How the Sunset Sparkles
by ScipioSmith
Summary: Sunset Shimmer flees back to Equestria to avoid facing the consequences of her actions, and moves into Ponyville under the supervision of Twilight Sparkle. Can she admit to the feelings she begins to have for the new princess, or will Sunset's cowardice, her past and the machinations of a griffon prince crush the delicate blossoms of young love?
1. Life After High School

How the Sunset Sparkles

by Scipio Smith

Chapter 1

Life After High School

Sunset Shimmer woke up, her eyes fluttering open to fix on the dark ceiling of her new home. Fumbling, she reached for the glass of water on the nightstand─

And knocked it over onto the floor with a crash.

"Every. Single. Time," Sunset groaned. "I gotta get used to not having fingers anymore."

Sunset Shimmer rolled out of bed and stood up. Then she lost her balance, fell over balance and nearly hit her head on the same nightstand from which she had just dislodged the water. Not having a bipedal body any more was something else she had been failing to get used to.

Not for the first time in the past week, Sunset wondered if she might not have been better off staying in Equestria-616, keeping the body she'd gotten used to over the past three years. But, considering the various possible futures in store for her there she had decided it would best to follow Twilight Sparkle home and throw herself upon the mercy of Princess Celestia.

As Sunset had expected, Celestia had indeed been merciful. Much more merciful than a judge, a school board or a government scientist would have been in the other world, she was sure. Sunset Shimmer was not to be banished to the Griffon Kingdom, thrown into a deep, dark hole, or indeed suffer any real consequences for her actions whatsoever. Of course it helped that she hadn't actually done anything wrong in Equestria, but even so she'd been surprised in spite of herself by the extent of her old teacher's clemency.

The only stricture under which she laboured now was a mild one: she couldn't leave Ponyville and had to report to Princess Twilight Sparkle every day on what she had done and was doing. She also had to suffer visits whenever Twilight felt like it so that she could check that Sunset wasn't secretly plotting to seize power.

They needn't have worried. Sunset Shimmer had played the game, cheating like crazy at every turn, and she had lost. If she couldn't complete her plans for power when she had every advantage of surprise and preparation on her side, how in Equestria was she supposed to achieve anything when everypony knew what she was like and what she was up to? No, Twilight Sparkle had beaten her fair and square, quite an achievement when you considered how unfairly the deck had been stacked against her, and Sunset had to respect that, and concede with as much grace as you could muster in front of somepony who'd seen you blubbing in a heap on the ground.

_So glad that nopony else saw that, although she's probably told all of her friends by now._

Sunset summoned her magic - getting used to having magic again had been easier than getting used to not having thumbs - and lit the candles.

_If we didn't have magic, would we have invented all the things that the bipeds have? Has magic stagnated ponies as a people?_

It was something to think about, and Celestia knew she didn't have much else to do right now _but_ think.

Sunset Shimmer looked around her room: the beige walls she hadn't decorated yet, the bedclothes that were white because that was what she'd been given and she hadn't gotten around to buying any more, the functional furniture. It was nice enough, and far, far preferable to a prison cell, but at the same time she couldn't help but miss her old digs, the stuff she had accumulated in three years in then bipedal world: her high school crowns, her record collection, her wardrobe. Going naked all the time, now that was something really cause culture shock.

Not as much culture shock as when she'd walked out of the mirror and stepped out into the middle of the road stark naked and nearly caused a traffic accident mind, but still.

Sunset Shimmer's gaze fell on her ipod, the only thing apart from the clothes she'd been wearing at the time that she'd managed to bring to Equestria with her. The battery had nearly run out, and she wasn't able to charge it with anything in Equestria. Soon it would be dead.

_Pity. Listening to it was the only to spend an evening I had._

She padded into the kitchen and made breakfast, a kids' cereal called Chocochunks.

_I know I'm probably too old for this, but give me a break, grown-up cereals are boring._

_Which would make them very appropriate to my life at the moment._

She finished getting ready, which took less time than it did when she had to put on clothes, and stepped out into a new day in Ponyville, the happiest town in Equestria.

_Smile, smile, every where I look everypony has a stupid grin plastered on their face. What do they all have to be so happy about? You're laughing at yourselves!_

A couple of ponies gave Sunset Shimmer funny looks as she walked down the street with a resolute scowl defacing her features, but for the most part the good folk of Ponyville were too wrapped up in their own affairs to pay her much mind. Her arrival in Ponyville in mysterious circumstances had not gone unremarked upon, and everypony kept their distance, but nopony knew exactly what she was or why she was here. Certainly neither Twilight nor Celestia had been putting it about that she was a former supervillain or anything like that. She had been the source of gossip for a few days, but by now most ponies had moved on.

_Almost a pity that, it would have been quite cool being the mysterious outsider for a bit, the way I was at high school. Who is she? Where does she come from? Some of the ponyfeather theories they came up with where hilarious. I think my favourite was the one where I was in witness protection preparing to testify against my mobster father._

Although for sheer out there weirdness, Sunset conceded, you couldn't beat the guy who thought she was an esper sent to observe Pinkie Pie (who was god in this kid's head) and stop her from getting bored and destroying the world. That was just taking the cake ridiculousness.

"What ya doin'?"

_Speak of the pink pony_. Sunset Shimmer sighed, "I'm going to see Twilight, like I do every day."

"Then why are you frowning?" Pinkie Pie asked, doing an exaggerated expression of Sunset's scowl as she sat down in the middle of the road in front of her. "Going to see Twilight always puts me in a good mood. Unless I'm really upset like the time Rainbow Dash didn't write back from Wonderbolt Academy even though she promised she'd write every day the irresponsible irresponsibility pants and─"

"I'm scowling because, unlike you, I don't like being looked down upon by a self-righteous milksop," Sunset said forcefully.

Pinkie Pie giggled. "Silly Sunset, Twilight's not a milksop. Twilight's awesome."

"Really," Sunset murmured, rolling her blue eyes.

"Well, duh!" Pinkie looked at her as though she was an idiot. "What about the time she totally activated the Elements of Harmony even though five of the elements were in an other world and you had the Element of Magic? Wasn't that awesome? And then how about right after that she totally blasted you in the face with the magic of harmony, that was pretty awesome too─"

"Not to be me it wasn't and how do you know about that?" Sunset Shimmer demanded. "She said she wasn't going to tell anypony!"

"I dreamed about it."

Sunset blinked, "You, you dreamed it."

"Yup. I've been dreaming about that place for years and years now. Every night when I close my eyes I start walking on two feet again. My parents took me to see a shrink once cause they thought it wasn't healthy to have the same dream so often, but sometimes I wonder if I _am_ dreaming. Like, maybe the real me is the one in my dreams and I'm what happens when she falls asleep and dreams that she's a pony. That would explain why you where there way before you were here, because I knew you in the real world for years before you finally turned up in my dreams!"

"I am not, nor have I ever been one of your dreams," Sunset Shimmer said firmly. "I am real. I was always real and I always will be."

"Really? Huh. Lucky for you nopony ever ran into the other Sunset Shimmer on the other side then wasn't it."

"There was no me on the other side," Sunset said confidently.

"But everypony─"

"There is no pony like me; there's just me," Sunset Shimmer said in the coolest tone of voice at her command. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go and see Twilight now. So this has been fun. Let's do it again. A long time in the future."

Sunset edged around Pinkie Pie and started to walk away. She stopped, paused for thought, then yelled, "And I'd better catch you in my home when I get back."

"Aww, but I haven't thrown you a housewarming party yet."

"That's because I don't want one!" Sunset shouted, and began to run away before Pinkie Pie could argue the point further.

_I swear she's even worse on this side of the mirror._ Arguably what was weirdest was that she, unlike every other pony in Ponyville, knew exactly what Sunset Shimmer had done. She suspected Twilight had given her friends the revision notes version, but Pinkie Pie had seen it? Then why wasn't she scared? She'd seen Sunset turn into a raging demon of the inferno, why was she so blaise about that? _Did the Elements render me that toothless. Or is it cause she saw me crying? It's cause she saw me crying isn't it? _

Sunset carried on through the rest of Ponyville without incident ─ except for the fact that she kept wanting to blush at all the ponies seeing her naked ─ until she arrived at the library where Twilight Sparkle ruled. Or lived rather, since Twilight Sparkle took pains to deny at every turn that she ruled anything.

_Being a princess hasn't changed me at all. I don't do anything different than I used to. I'm still the same as I always was. Well then what are you doing with a crown you ungrateful little wretch? Give it up to somepony who'll use it! Somepony like me!_

Just because she'd accepted that she was never going to beat Twilight in an unfair fight didn't mean Sunset Shimmer had to give up on her dreams completely.

She rapped on the library door with one hoof. The oak door was opened by Spike, whose eyes narrowed suspiciously when he saw her.

"Oh, it's you," Spike said sullenly.

"Top of the morning to you too, Spike," Sunset replied with faux-cheer. "It's that time again."

"Oh, joy."

"Come on, Spike, you can't be mad at me can you?"

"You kidnapped me!" Spike said.

"Technically it was Snips and Snails who kidnapped you, I shouldn't be held responsible for all the actions of my incompetent minions now, should I?"

"Yes."

"Oh for crying out loud, stop being a drama queen and get over it already!" Sunset shouted. "I got shot in the face by a rainbow and you don't see me making a fuss!"

Spike looked at her sceptically.

"Okay, I've mentioned it a few times in passing," Sunset conceded. "The point is, I have got it much worse than you or Princess Twilight in there and yet I am trying to make this work, so ─ hard as it is for a shrimp like you ─ you need to be the bigger pony and let it all go. Let bygones be bygones, move on with your life, get closure and all those cliches. Can't we be buddies, Spike?" Sunset gave him the most insincere grin in her arsenal of smiles.

"You don't really expect that to work do you?"

"Not at all and I don't really want it to," Sunset confessed. "Bugging you is about the only entertainment I have in this world."

Spike grunted, and moved out of the doorway to let her in. "Just so you know, I've got my eye on you."

"Ooh, I'm so scared of you Spike, you pint-sized baby lizard you," Sunset chuckled. "Relax, I'm not planning anything more devious than how to annoy you each day." She walked into the library, sat down on the floor with her head resting on the table, and sighed. "My life has become a small and petty thing." _For now, at least. It will not stay that way. My plans failed, but there are other avenues in which a pony blessed with brains, ambition, charm and prodigious talent can achieve greatness. I just can't think of any right now. _

"Where's Her Highness?" Sunset asked.

"I'm right here," the Princess Twilight Sparkle appeared at the top of the stairs. She walked down rather than flying, possibly so as not to appear ostentatious, though she wasn't doing anything to disguise those wings on her flank. "And I've asked you not to call me Highness, especially since you don't seem capable of saying it without sarcasm. Twilight Sparkle will be fine, or Princess Twilight if you must."

_Why spend so much time trying to pretend that you're not different! It obviously isn't true and it's as ostentatious as it would be if you walked around in your crown all day._

Sunset said, "Okay, Twilight."

"Twilight Sparkle," the reproof was mildly given, but a reproof nonetheless. Twilight's tone reminded Sunset of Princess Celestia, the way that she would correct you without drawing attention to the fact that you had made a mistake.

"So I can call you Twilight Sparkle, but just Twilight is a step too far?" Sunset asked.

"Twilight is what my friends call me," Twilight Sparkle replied, with a courtesy so chilly Sunset thought it might single-hoofedly revive the windigoes.

Sunset Shimmer blinked, and said nothing. There wasn't anything to be said to that, was there? If ever there was a door slam that was it. She coughed to cover her embarassment. It wasn't that she wanted to be Twilight Sparkle's friend, nothing of the sort, but to have it stated so baldly that she was not counted among that number was rather disconcerting.

She masked her concern with mockery, "You mean that we're not friends? Twilight Sparkle, you hurt me. What happened to this being the land of forgiveness?"

"Forgiveness is quite another thing from trust," Twilight Sparkle replied. "Trust has to be earned, and after the things you've done you have a lot of work to do to earn it."

"Aw, come on, Twilight Sparkle, it was nothing personal."

"You threw a fireball at me," Twilight reminded her.

"Yeah, impersonally," Sunset Shimmer said. "I didn't do it because I didn't like you. I mean, sure, you got the crown and the wings and everything I ever wanted, but I don't resent you in particular. I would have treated anypony who came through that mirror trying to impede my goals just the same. It was just business. In my position you'd have done the same thing."

"No. No I wouldn't."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Oh, right, I forgot I was talking to Princess Goody-Four-Hooves for a moment."

Twilight Sparkle frowned. "Perhaps we should get to business. How are you today?"

"I'm bored is what I am," Sunset said forcefully. "I've got nothing to do all day except come here and bother you and Spike. I don't have anything to occupy myself, occupy my mind. I am bored."

"You could always get a job?" Twilight suggested with a touch of archness in her tone.

Sunset said, "Yeah, that hadn't crossed my mind. Got any idea what I should I do?"

Twilight shrugged ever so slightly. "What are you good at? You must have some talents, or at least an enthusiasm for something."

"You sound like a High School guidance councillor," Sunset Shimmer said. "You know, in the other world they say there are some folks whose lives are over after high school. Either they were never as popular as when they were as the quarterback, or as the cheerleading captain. I guess that's me."

"Maybe you should have thought about that before," Spike interjected from behind her.

Sunset turned around to say, "I was planning to take over the world after high school. Somepony and her little dragon-dog ruined that plan."

"My condolences," Twilight Sparkle murmured dryly.

Sunset Shimmer shook her head. "The point is, why can't I move back to Canterlot? At least there I'd find something to do, and the real princesses could keep an eye on me."

"The real princesses?" Twilight asked, one eyebrow raised.

"You know what I meant," Sunset said. "Honestly, some ponies are so sensitive."

"Yes, that's the problem," Twilight said in a voice laced with sarcasm. "If you are bored, then you can always tidy up the library while you think."

"What?" both Sunset and Spike demanded at the same time, in the same tone of incredulity.

"That's my job," Spike said.

"Am I your assistant now?"

"You said you were bored, and I've just given you something to do," Twilight said. "Spike, I need your help with some research for the princess."

"I could help you with that instead," Sunset suggested.

Twilight Sparkle looked her in the eye. "I don't think so."

Sunset Shimmer sighed. "Okay, okay, where do you keep the feather duster?"

As she cleaned up the place, which truthfully didn't require a lot of work since it was quite well maintained as it was, Sunset noticed two things. The first was how cute Twilight Sparkle looked in the pictures of her that dotted the library here and there.

"You know you're much cuter as a pony than you were as a biped, Princess Twilight," Sunset called to them.

"Um, thanks," Twilight said uncertainly. "Shame I can't say the same about you."

"Hey, whether as a pony or a human I look smoking hot," Sunset replied.

The second thing she noticed was how long it was taking Twilight Sparkle to find anything. She kept having to send Spike scouring the bookshelves for books, accumulating a steady stack of them as she referenced and cross referenced.

It got Sunset thinking.

_Back in that other world, she could have just looked all this stuff up on the internet, and been able to keep her notes on the cloud and accessed them from wherever she was. _

_Except we haven't got anything like that. _

_But why can't we?_

A light shone through the library window and onto Sunset Shimmer.

_That's it. That's what I'll do. I'll bring technology to Equestria! I'll invent the internet, spread IT across the country, become the most famous inventor in the whole of pony history! I'll be famous. More famous than Twilight Sparkle!_

_Look out Equestria! Sunset Shimmer, Captain of Industry is on the move._


	2. Childish Things

Chapter 2

Childish Things

Sunset Shimmer walked home from the library, her head full of plans. Her new ambitions would take a lot of work, no doubt, but she was equal to the task.

_I arrived at Canterlot High with nothing and for thirty moons I dominated that place. My wits and energy are sufficient to conquer any challenge._

She was so enthused and energised by her new goal, it was almost enough to make her forget that she was going home to an empty house and another lonely evening.

As she walked down the street, Sunset vaguely noticed Applejack putting up posters for an Taylor Swiftwing concert. She didn't pay it much mind, Sunset had never been a big fan of country music.

Sunset also passed the newspaper stand, and having nothing better to do she stopped and perused what they had. She bought a paper, and then saw that they had some comics on one of the lower shelves.

"Power Ponies? That takes me back, I used to love these," Sunset murmured, levitating one of the issues off the shelf ─ seconds before Pipsqueak could grab it ─ and opening it up.

"Fili-Second's name is Windy West now?" Sunset murmured, reading the character biographies on the first page. "What the hay happened to Mare-y Allen?"

"She died more than a year ago, miss," Pipsqueak said helpfully. "You sound like you've missed out on a lot."

"Yeah, it looks that way," Sunset growled, feeling rather miffed that her Fili-Second had been gotten rid of to make way for this interloper. An interloper who, a few cursory glances through the story revealed, was absolutely nothing like Fili-Second. The real Fili-Second wasn't zany or hyperactive, she was an inspiration to superheroes across Equestria. Why did they have to get rid of her like that?

A little put out that one of her childhood shibboleths had been so cavalierly cast aside in favour of a decided change for the worse, Sunset Shimmer kept reading. She scowled when she realised that Humdrum had been replaced as well and was now a goofy idiot instead of the quick thinking rock of the team that she remembered.

_Are they dumbing down for fillies and colts or something? Don't they realise that children can handle mature, competent storytelling; that they want it? I bet there are fillies and colts who don't even realise Humdrum was ever anything but an idiot._

And then she read something that really made her blood boil.

"MASKED MATTERHORN WAS REALLY A CLONE OF THIS JOKER THE ENTIRE TIME? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

Meanwhile, in the library, Twilight Sparkle looked up as an explosion of pure rage rattled the windows.

"Ah, it seems that she found out about the Clone Saga," she murmured, having had to endure Spike's reaction when that particular plot point first came to light already.

"Do you think we should do something?" Spike asked. "What if she hurts somepony?"

"Oh, I don't think she's gone bad again, she just sounds a little angry," Twilight said. "Remember how you reacted to One Mare Day?"

"Don't remind me," Spike said.

Sunset Shimmer's horn glowed with a blue aura as she incinerated the offending issue.

"THIS COMIC SUCKS," she spat. She took another issue off the rack and put it on the counter. "I'll take this one and pay for the one I just destroyed. Sorry about that. Got a little carried away."

She paid for the two issues and then stomped off home, deciding that once she got the internet up and running the first thing she'd do with it was start a blog where she could rant about how Marevel Comics were ruining her childhood to the whole country.

_Hmm, this comic sucks...that might make quite a good catchphrase for reviews._

Sunset went home and made dinner for herself. She put half in the freezer, because she hadn't been taught to waste food, and there was too much for one pony to eat. After a week of doing that, however, the freezer was starting to fill up with leftovers.

_I should probably start eating some of this, but it doesn't taste as nice as food made fresh. Probably because the melting ice gets in it. _

As she ate her casserole, Sunset pondered where to start on her grand design. She supposed she'd have to start by building a computer. Then she could sell the idea for that and get other ponies making more while she invented things to do on the computer.

She started making sketches, and lists of what she thought she'd need, long into the night until she fell asleep on the floor.

* * *

Sunset was woken by a knock on the door, a loud and insistent knocking. Bleary eyed, she could see the sun shining in through a crack in the curtains.

_Late to bed and late to rise, it seems_, Sunset thought, picking herself up off the floor. Bits of paper lay all around her like a nest, covered in scrawlings, scribblings, plans, designs, lists. She had even written a ten point plan for global fame at some point in the night's heady work, a list Sunset could not remember writing and became increasingly implausible as it descended from bullet point to bullet point.

"Use my vast wealth and resources to fight crime and become a great philanthropist," Sunset Shimmer murmured, reading item number eight off the list. "Yeah, that's likely. I shouldn't have bought that comic."

The knocking became even louder and twice as insistent upon answer.

"Yes, yes, I'm coming. Have a little patience, why don't you?" Sunset walked over to the door and opened it. Outside stood Twilight Sparkle, and behind her Spike teetered under the weight of a large chest.

"Good morning," Twilight said evenly. "You didn't show up at the library this morning. I was a little concerned."

"You mean you were concerned about me or that you were concerned about what I might be doing?" Sunset asked with a wry smile.

"Shall we say it was both?" Twilight replied, matching Sunset with a smile of her own, impenetrable and guarded.

Sunset let out a bark of laughter. "Sorry, Princess Twilight, I was up all night working and overslept afterward. Come inside, I'll go brush my teeth before you or Spike complain of the smell."

Sunset padded into the bathroom, leaving Twilight to close the door behind her. She didn't like brushing her teeth before breakfast ─ she was always left with a lot of sticky stuff lining the inside of her mouth and bugging her, and anything she drank afterwards would have a funny after taste ─ but she wasn't going to have Twilight Sparkle interview her with stale breath. She may have been a villain, but she wasn't a bum.

"What are you working on?" Twilight Sparkle asked from the dining room.

Sunset Shimmer spat into the sink. "I've found something to occupy myself. I'm going to bring Equestria into the information age."

"The what now?"

Sunset Shimmer came back into the dining room. "You know when we were in that other world, they were a lot more advanced than us in a lot ways. The horseless carriage that took you to the Fall Formal, that didn't produce steam or require rails to run on, we can't produce anything on that level yet."

"Well, actually, I did see something that moved without rails once," Twilight Sparkle said. "It doubled as a cider press."

A look of disbelief crossed Sunset's face. "Really? A cider press?"

"Yeah, it was a little weird," Twilight confirmed. "Though I admit it didn't look as nice as our limo, or Flash's car."

"Mmm," Sunset murmured. She quickly changed the subject, "Good thing I didn't decide to invent the automobile then. Anyway, the greatest achievement of the culture on the other side of the mirror is there development of computing. In every prosperous home there is now at least one computer or computing machine, each capable of storing more information than there is in your entire library. And they have this thing called the internet, which connects folks from all over the world to one another and lets them share anything they want. It's transformed their society, and I'm going to bring it here so it can transform our society as well." She finished with an excited, anticipatory grin upon her face, but became conscious of the fact that Princess Twilight was not sharing her enthusiasm. In fact she looked downright sceptical. Sunset's smile faded. "What?"

"I'm not sure I want to see Equestrian society transformed," Twilight murmured. "And that is leaving aside the fact that the things you're talking about creating are exactly the things that you used to make me look crazy in front of everyone, aren't they?"

"I didn't 'make you' look like anything," Sunset replied defensively.

"Everyone at school was laughing at me," Twilight shouted. "I looked like an idiot because of you and the video you made."

"Please remember, Princess Twilight, that not one second of that video was faked by me," Sunset Shimmer replied sharply. "Everything I showed you doing, you actually did. I just cut the footage together and put it on YouTube, but I wouldn't have had anything to work with if you hadn't provided the material."

"Like I provided the material of me destroying the gym?" Twilight asked.

Sunset Shimmer sighed. "That was completely different. And besides, you're missing the point that, as I tried to tell you yesterday, none of that was about you. It was about me and getting what I wanted."

"I'm waiting for you to convince me why I should allow this idea of yours," Twilight said. "All I can see is something which we don't need and will bring more harm and trouble than it's worth. You might think it is one of the great achievements of that world, but I think it was one of the worst."

"Oh come on," Sunset Shimmer said, shaking her head. "How can you possibly justify a statement like that?"

"People don't talk to one another in that world," Twilight said. "You would never have been able to divide my friends in that world if they had actually spoken to one another, face to face. But they let technology, the technology you want to bring here, divide them. And you used those barriers for your own advantage."

Sunset Shimmer scoffed, "Is that what you think? Do you think this is an absurdly complex scheme to take over Equestria by getting everypony so addicted to free wi-fi that they won't notice? That's not why I'm doing this!"

"Then why are you doing this?" Twilight challenged. "Sheer altruism?"

"Because if I do this then I'll be famous, guaranteed!" Sunset yelled. "My name will resound through history, more than the name of anypony else except Celestia. I'll be the mother of a revolution in the affairs of Equestria."

"I believe that," Twilight murmured. "That is what concerns me. Is this really all about fame to you?"

"I need to do something extraordinary, I won't sink into mediocrity," Sunset Shimmer replied.

Twilight shook her head sadly. "Even now, you don't get it, do you?"

Sunset snorted. "Get what?"

"Just because you aren't 'extraordinary' doesn't make you mediocre, or worthless. Is that what you think about everypony here? About Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity? What's so wrong with being ordinary?"

Sunset smirked. "Princess, I have never, in my entire life, wished to be ordinary."

Twilight Sparkle shook her head once more, and Sunset Shimmer honestly found her conceit rather grating. It wasn't as if she was particularly ordinary herself, and to have her lecture Sunset Shimmer like she was ever so humble was a little hard to swallow.

"You know you can only go ahead with this if I allow it," Twilight said.

"But why wouldn't you?" Sunset asked. "Listen, as an example: the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Suppose they could reach out to blank flanks all over Equestria, find other ponies just like them. Their movement could span hundreds, thousands of fillies. They'd know that they weren't alone. What would the taunts of the local bully matter when they had an army of friends online."

"Online friends can never be a substitute for the real thing," Twilight Sparkle said. "You can't know anypony's heart if you've never met them. I agree that it might be a convenient way to meet others, but a friendship that stays online is worse than no friendship at all because it stops you from going out and developing real relationships."

"They are real," Sunset countered. "The emotions that can be inspired by friendship over a computer are just as valid and true as the feelings that Spike feels towards you."

"That might be so, or it might be a pretence by some wicked pony looking to take advantage of desperate ponies seeking solace," Twilight argued. "It's impossible to tell. Not to mention that on my brief visit to the other world this internet seemed capable of bringing out the very worst in the behaviour of those who lived there."

"That won't happen here," Sunset said.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because we're better than they are," Sunset insisted.

Twilight regarded her coolly. "Are we really?"

Sunset scowled. "You're looking at the greatest social leap in the history of pony kind and you're going to turn your back on it because you're scared."

"I'm looking out for Equestria and for everypony's best interest, that's my job as a princess," Twilight snapped.

"I see, so that's how it is now?" Sunset said, a fake smile tugging at the edges of her mouth. "Mother knows best, I see."

"I didn't mean it like that," Twilight said sharply. "You can build your computer. The information storage abilities might be beneficial. But I'm withholding judgement on everything else. You don't do anything without my permission, and if I tell you to kill it, you kill it."

Sunset's mouth tightened, but she knew that this was not a negotiation. "Okay."

Twilight nodded. "Good, I'm glad we understand each other. I didn't just come over for our daily meeting." She stepped aside, allowing Sunset to get a better view of the chest Spike had dumped on the floor. "Princess Celestia sent this: it's a box of your things that you left in Canterlot. The Princess thought you might like them back."

Sunset's eyebrows rose. She hadn't expected Princess Celestia to be so considerate. She walked over to the chest, running one hoof over the red exterior. The box had been stamped with her cutie mark, the setting sun looking slightly worn and faded now after thirty moons. In fact the whole box looked a little worn and shabby, but inviting in that special way that only slightly worn and shabby looking things can be, like an old familiar chair or a collection of oft-read books.

Her horn glowing, Sunset opened the chest to see what Celestia had sent her.

The very first thing, lying on top of the pile, carefully placed so that it was not squashed, was a stuffed bunny rabbit in a blue jersey and red bow tie. Black eyes gazed up at her, a welcoming smile upon the rabbit's face.

Sunset chuckled as she lifted it up. "Wow. Nice to see a familiar face in Equestria at last."

"Old keepsake?" Twilight asked.

"Very old," Sunset said with a smile. "I was born on Hearth's Warming Eve, this was the present I got from the hospital. I call him Bab."

"Bab?"

"I know it isn't very imaginative, but give me a break, I was really young," Sunset replied. She levitated the stuffed toy over to her face, and felt the softness of it against her cheek. He hadn't lost his cuddliness since she'd been gone.

"You're going to keep him then?" Twilight asked her.

"Yeah, of course I'm going to keep him," Sunset said, propping Bab up on the chair while she looked through the rest of the box. "Why?"

"No reason," Twilight said. Softly, she continued, "I'm going to have get Smartypants back from Big Macintosh one of these days."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Twilight said immediately.

Sunset paid it no mind, being too pre-occupied by going through the other stuff in her box. There was the clay dragon she'd made for art class, which would provide the windowsill with some much needed decoration, and a bunch of old photographs from her childhood. Some of them were nice to look at, the picture of her taken after she was born made a slow, sad smile spread across her face, but the picture of her and Princess Celestia at the Summer Sun Celebration just made her feel cold in the pit of her stomach at the memory of all she'd lost.

"Hey, Twilight Sparkle," Sunset Shimmer's voice was a little hoarse when it came. "Do you think it's our choices or our destiny that make us who we are? I mean, looking at this photo of me and the princess, do you think that there's any way I could have become you if I'd stayed on the straight and narrow. Or was I always fated to become me?"

"I don't know," Twilight confessed. "I mean, I believe that we all have a destiny, but I also believe in the power to change and reform yourself. But I thought you liked who you were?"

"I do," Sunset said defensively. "But I also wouldn't mind having some of the things you have, as you well know. You know what, forget I asked." She put the photographs to one side, not knowing whether she wanted to have them framed, put them on the wall, or put them away and not look at them again.

But the next items in the box made her grin as she took them out.

"Either of you two like Marevel comics?" she asked.

"Yeah," Spike said.

"Look at this," Sunset presented a slightly dog-eared comic proudly. "Power Ponies Number One. Before this, each of them just starred in their own solo book."

"Really?" Spike said.

"Yep, they were well-written in those days," Sunset said. "There were no clones, no replacements and Humdrum was the smartest and most competent member of the team."

Spike was practically salivating now. "Can I borrow it?"

Sunset laughed. "Maybe if you're a little nicer to me from now on, Spike."

"Aww, come on, I didn't think you were _that_ evil."

Sunset laughed some more as she dug through the rest of the trunk. Old curios and ornaments, a few books and, at the very bottom of the chest, a handsome leather box which was, like the crate, stamped with Sunset Shimmer's cutie mark.

"Really?" Sunset murmured. "She's giving this back to me? After everything I did?"

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

Sunset levitated the leather box out of the chest, opening it up to reveal a chess board and a set of intricately carved chess pieces made of ebony and ivory.

"Princess Celestia gave me this for my last birthday before I...left," Sunset explained. "I was absolutely brilliant at chess, best game ever. I could have beaten anyone in the high school chess club if it wouldn't have ruined my reputation." She held up a couple of the pieces with her magic and examined them. The knights looked like Commander Hurricane, the wizards like Clover the Clever and the princesses like Princess Platinum. They were so detailed you could practically see the pupils of their eyes.

"Princess Celestia gave that to you, as a birthday present," Twilight murmured.

"Yeah," Sunset confirmed. "Why, didn't she get you any birthday presents?" Sunset smiled slyly.

"Of course she did," Twilight replied loudly. "My last birthday before I left for Ponyville, she gave me my telescope."

"Oh, okay." Sunset nodded her head, still smiling. "Was it a good telescope?"

"An excellent one," Twilight said primly.

"Ooooh, excellent, okay then." Sunset and Twilight stared at one another for a moment, each looking equally proud. Then Sunset started to giggle like a filly.

"What's so funny?" Twilight demanded.

"The two of us, comparing the length of our horns like this," Sunset said. "Arguing over which of us Princess Celestia liked better."

Twilight chuckled. "I guess it is pretty silly."

"Especially since there's no real contest, is there?" Sunset asked.

"Well, um," Twilight murmured.

"Don't be ashamed of it, for sunlight's sake," Sunset said. "You won, I lost, there's an end to it. And I'm sure it is a very good telescope."

"Yes it is," Twilight said emphatically. "Though that is a nice looking chess set."

"Thanks," Sunset said. "Do you play?"

"Of course."

"Well, sit down then." Sunset set the board upon the floor and began to set up the pieces. "You can be white. That seems appropriate doesn't it?"

Twilight sighed at that, but sat down on the other side of the board. Her horn glowed as she started with the king pawn. Sunset moved the princess' knight pawn, and then Twilight moved her princess out.

"Starting with the princess," Sunset murmured. "Interesting."

"If the princess isn't willing to lead, why should anypony follow her?" asked Princess Twilight Sparkle.

"Yes, I should have guessed you'd think like that," Sunset said, as she and Twilight both made their moves. "After all, that was how you did it the last time we played."

"We've never played this game before."

"Oh, but we have," Sunset said. "On the other side of the mirror, surely you haven't forgotten."

Twilight frowned. "We weren't playing a game then."

"Of course we were," Sunset replied, beaming. "We were playing a much grander game. True, the game board was a bit irregularly sized, and we used real people instead of pieces, but other than that..."

"You used people like playing pieces, I didn't," Twilight said firmly.

"Really?" Sunset raised one eyebrow inquisitively. "You don't mean to tell me that you cared about the doubles of your Ponyville friends on the other side of the mirror as much as you cared about the real thing."

"Yes, I did."

"Oh, please, nopony is that nice," Sunset snapped. "Neither of us cared about that other world, we just used it and the people in it to further our goals in Equestria."

"That isn't true!"

"Of course it is! What was it you told them: if you'll follow me, we'll put our differences aside? Oh, you led them all right. You led them right up until you didn't need them any more and then you came straight back to your real friends."

"What was I supposed to do?" Twilight demanded.

"Oh, I'm not judging you, Princess, far from it, I agree with everything you did. I would just like you to be honest and admit that we are not so different, I think it would help our relationship move forward," Sunset Shimmer answered calmly, a hint of smugness entering her voice. "We both used the inhabitants of that world like pawns, the only difference is that I used lies, blackmail and manipulation while you used inspirational songs and montages. But white or black a pawn is still a pawn."

"You're wrong," Twilight shouted, slamming her princess down into the board. "And that's checkmate."

Sunset looked down, and blinked. While she had been intent on flustering Twilight, she had indeed allowed her king to get boxed in without an escape route. What was more, apart from the princess the other pieces Twilight had used to entrap her were all pawns.

Sunset looked up. "Well done."

Twilight didn't reply, simply getting up and turning to leave without a word. Spike scurried after her, and Twilight used her magic to slam the door on her way out.

Sunset looked back down at the board. Her own side, the black, had lost all but one of its pawns by the end of the game, she had spent them frivolously in order to lure Twilight's more important pieces into traps. But, while Twilight had lost most of her knights, rooks and wizards, her pawn contingent was absolutely intact. And she had used them to win the gain while Sunset disdained them.

"You always did make better of use of pawns than I did," Sunset muttered to herself.


	3. And That is Why

Chapter 3

And That is Why

Sunset got up and yawned. It was the end of today's interview with Twilight, and she was keen to get going.

"Well, if that's everything sorted, Twilight Sparkle, I'm gonna go back home and─"

"No," Twilight said.

Sunset blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

Twilight regarded her evenly, her expression inscrutable. Spike, standing by her side, looked torn between worry and triumph. Twilight closed the book lying open before, the book in which she recorded the details of her interviews with Sunset Shimmer, and probably their other interactions too.

"I don't think that you shutting yourself up in that house all day is doing your attitude any favours," Twilight said firmly. "You don't just have to keep out of trouble, you're also supposed to be changing your ways and so far I'm not seeing much evidence of that. You still look down on other ponies, desire to be seen as better than other ponies around you and have no feeling for anypony but yourself."

"That isn't true," Sunset protested. "I...don't hate having to meet you every day. In some ways I kind of look forward to it."

Twilight's expression did not alter. She continued, "I've arranged for you to spend the morning helping my friend Rarity with her stock taking at Carousel Boutique, and in the afternoon you'll be working for Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner."

"What?" Sunset whined. "But I have my own stuff to work on! I was going to start gathering raw materials today."

"Tough," Twilight said, her voice not unpleasant but not exactly sympathetic either. "Frankly, Sunset Shimmer, I think you should have stayed in that other world and made amends for the things you did there─"

"They would have killed me!"

"You're being melodramatic," Twilight replied. "Since you are here, I have no intention of letting you continue with the same attitudes that you led to you to become so dangerous in that world."

Sunset scowled. "So, what you're saying is, I don't have a choice?"

"No, you don't."

"You're my gaoler then? I jump when you yell?"

"If that is how you want to look at it, then I can't stop you," Twilight said, her voice still calm. "But I prefer to think of it as an intervention."

Sunset stamped her hoof, half turning away from Twilight before she looked back. "Don't you think you're taking a big risk, leaving me alone with your friends like this."

Spike twitched, and Sunset smirked a little. _Can't decide whether you want to be gleeful at my humiliation or worried for your Rarity, can you Spike?_

"I'm not worried, my friends are stronger than you think," Twilight said, still without any obvious emotion in her voice. She half stood, leaning over the library table. "And besides, I think you're smart enough to realise that if you did do something stupid, then there is no way in Tartarus that I would let you get away with it."

There was such snap in her voice when she spoke, such steel, that Sunset found herself taking an involuntary gulp as she stepped backwards. She covered it with a smile and a dismissive wave of one hoof. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, _Princess_ Twilight, your pals are safe with me. But you can write in that book of yours that I'm doing this under protest."

"You can protest all you like, I don't have to ask your permission," Twilight replied.

Sunset snorted. "No, you don't. See you around, _Princess_." She turned to go, striding towards the door with heavy, frustrated steps.

"Sunset Shimmer," Twilight called.

Sunset stopped and looked back. "What now?"

"Today will go a lot easier if you go into it with an open mind and an open heart," Twilight said. "And the sooner I see evidence of change, the faster your time will be your own again."

"You mean this isn't a today only thing?" Sunset asked, her eyes widening in horror at the prospect of an endless span of days in servitude stretched out before her, slaving away at the cruel whims of Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

"This will go on as long as I think it needs to go on," Twilight replied implacably. "Now off you go, Rarity is expecting you."

Sunset ground her teeth as she once more turned away and left the confines ─ more confining now than they had been when she came in ─ and slammed the door on her way out.

She muttered under her breath about the unfairness of it all the way to Carousel Boutique, giving several ponies the evil eye as she passed them by. She recognised Lyra Heartstrings from school, and glared at her more than any other pony she saw on the street. _I bet she doesn't have to work as anypony's peon because Twilight Sparkle doesn't like her. She's just jealous that I'm going to become more famous than she is._

Sunset arrived at the gleaming exterior of Carousel Boutique, sighed, and decided that there was no point putting off. She pushed open the door, the tingling of a bell heralding her arrival.

"Come in, darling," Rarity trilled, trotting out of one of the back rooms. "Ah, Sunset, dear, so good of you to come. I mentioned to Twilight that I could use some help today and she said that you wouldn't mind lending me a hoof for the morning."

"Is that what she said?" Sunset muttered, her tone just the right side of being surly. She walked closer to Rarity as she said, "So, what is that you need me to do here?"

"Well, the first thing I'd like for you to do is to take inventory, darling," Rarity said, levitating a list on a clipboard over to Sunset. "I know it's important work, but I have some orders to complete so I don't have time to do it myself. This list is all the materials that I should have in stock, so I want you to go through the shop and find out if everything is present and accounted for."

Sunset nodded. It was boring work, but it shouldn't be too difficult. "What if anything isn't here?"

"Then come and talk to me, dear, I might have used it for something and forgotten to note it on the list. It's so hard to remember trifling details like that when one is in the zone, don't you think?"

"I guess," Sunset murmured. It was disconcerting how familiar this was, considering that she had only met _this_ Rarity once before, and briefly at that. The Rarity she knew had been the unofficial queen bee of Canterlot High before Sunset herself arrived, though she did so little with her power and authority that Sunset hadn't seen much wrong with depriving her of it. Rarity hadn't seen it that way, but looking back it had been trifling easy to break her. Rarity, after all, had been hampered by her conception of herself as a classy lady and had behaved accordingly. Sunset, for whom no trick was too dirty and no blow too low, had outmanoeuvred her with ease and socially torn her apart. The moral, as Sunset saw it, was that holding yourself to arbitrary standards was an invitation for others to walk all over you, whatever world you lived in.

_Obviously I won't be telling this Rarity all about that. Though I wonder, if I could get her friends on my side, would Twilight go easier on me?_ She had no illusions about her ability to detach Twilight's friends from her, or make them her own; quite apart from the fact that they would be on their guard against such tactics, it had been hard enough to split up the gang in the other world and she had only managed it by using devices which didn't exist in this world to achieve miscommunication, and, to cap it all, Twilight Sparkle had undone months of hard work in a matter of days. In Equestria, she had no doubt that breaking up this six would be impossible for anything short of a demi-god. And in any case, what would be the point? It would accomplish nothing beyond giving her a moment of vindictive satisfaction, and Sunset would never get anywhere if she allowed herself to wallow in that kind of pettiness.

_I am not going to descend into a morass of self-pity about how I could have been a contender if I'd been given a shot,_ Sunset thought. _I'm not going to lash out pathetically because all I can really do is make other ponies as miserable as me. I'm certainly not going to whine about why Celestia didn't love me enough. I think I met that pony once and she was disgusting._

"Sunset?" Rarity said, sounding slightly nervous. "Are you all right? You seemed to get lost in your own world there."

"Right, sorry," Sunset said quickly. "I'll just get started on this list." _The sooner I finish, the better._

"Thank you, dear," Rarity said. "Oh, by the way, my sister Sweetie Belle is staying with me while my parents are away, so don't go into her room. She's very conscious of her privacy.

So, Sunset found herself checking bolts of silk, satin and the like. She sorted through crates of gemstones. She checked that there was enough thread, enough needles and enough spare belts for the sewing machine. She knew which was Sweetie Belle's room straight away by the sign on it which said, 'Keep Out! THAT MEANS YOU, RARITY!' She steered clear of that one. She couldn't imagine that Sweetie Belle was any more controlled or less rambunctious here than she had been in the world beyond the mirror.

Most of the stock was perfectly in order, it was a simple matter of checking items off a list. What was missing either entailed a simple conversation with Rarity or a rather less simple hunt through the organised chaos of her ideas room. It wasn't difficult work, but Sunset was at a loss how this was supposed to teach her respect for others. All it was doing was making her wonder how Rarity managed to make enough money to keep this place profitable.

"Hey, Rarity, can I ask you something?" Sunset asked as she rooted through the cupboards.

"Yes, of course, ask me anything you like," Rarity replied absently, stitching together a blue dress adorned with peacock feathers.

"Would you like to be able to sell your dresses to ponies all over Equestria?"

Rarity looked up, frowning. "Whatever do you mean? I will gladly make dresses for anypony who comes in to my shop no matter where they're from."

Sunset shook her head. "No, you're missing the point. They wouldn't have to come here, you wouldn't have to go to them. Imagine if there was a machine, that you could have in your home, that anypony could have in their home. Now, imagine if ponies could use that magical machine to find this store and look at the dresses you have for sale. Then, with the push of a button, they could order the dress or the suit they want and the magical machine would make sure you got paid. Then all you'd have to do is box up the clothes and fly it to them, and the magical machine would see that they paid for the postage as well."

Rarity's frown deepened. "I don't understand, what do you mean they would see the dresses? If they don't come to see me how would I know what colour would suit them, what style? How would they tell me what they were looking for, and how would I know that that's _really_ what they want?"

"They wouldn't," Sunset explained patiently. "They'd see the clothes that you've already made and that would be it."

"But, I wouldn't even be able to take their measurements to tailor their outfit," Rarity protested.

"But why would you want to waste time with all of that when you don't have to?" Sunset asked. "Just come up with a few designs, make some copies and ship them out the door! Maybe hire an assistant or two to help you churn them out faster."

"Churn them out?" Rarity's eyebrow twitched. "Churn them out? You mean, sell _off the peg_? Without alterations? My dear, Sunset, Carousel Boutique does _not_ sell off the peg! What do you think this is, a department store? Every item I create and sell is tailor made, or at the very least tailor altered, unique couture. Every piece is bespoke, every piece is original and every piece looks fabulous upon the customer because I would never sell anything to anypony who didn't suit it. Even when somepony comes in and wants to buy something I made earlier, the dress chooses the pony not the other way around."

"Okay, I get it, don't let your mane catch fire," Sunset said, rolling her eyes at Rarity's histrionics. "What I don't get is why it has to be that way? Why take so much time and so many wasted pains on one dress like you are now, when you could get a dozen ham-hoofed earth ponies on sewing machines producing cheaper clothes in half the time."

"Because this isn't about _money_," Rarity made the word sound sordid. "Nor is it about time, or effort. It's about craftsmareship, about experience, most of all it is about the satisfaction of the customer. Do you understand?"

Sunset Shimmer shook her head.

Rarity sighed. Then she frowned at Sunset. "When was the last time you had something tailor made for you, darling?"

"Never," Sunset replied.

"I thought so," Rarity replied, nodding knowingly. "Step onto the podium, Sunset, I'll get my measuring tape."

Sunset climbed up onto the podium in the centre of the boutique, while Rarity buzzed around her, taking her measurements.

"Are there any colours you'd like?" Rarity asked. "How about something to bring out your eyes. You do have lovely eyes, I must say, they appear both blue and green at the same time."

"Colours, um, I dunno," Sunset muttered. Her leather jacket came to mind. "How about black?"

"Black?" Rarity asked in surprise. "But black..." She cocked her head to one side. "Yes, now that you mention it. A coat or jacket, something to go over the blouse. But then how can you wear a jacket with a dress?"

"I'm not looking for a ballgown here," Sunset said quickly. "I've never been much of a girly mare anyway."

"Well, in that case, it should be..." Rarity trailed off, murmuring to herself, before she let out an excited squeal. "Idea! Now stay right where you are Miss Shimmer, you'll see that this will be absolutely stunning."

Sunset watched as Rarity hastily sketched something down on a piece of paper and then got to work, pulling bolts of fabric and gemstones to her from all over the shop by the power of her magic. She worked fast, it was only a little after lunchtime when Sunset stood admiring her reflection in one of Rarity's mirrors.

"This is great," Sunset said. Rarity had, by some magic beyond the power of unicorns, come up with something not a million miles away from the kind of stuff she'd worn in the mirror-world. Her blouse was a light purple, shading into pink, with a fiery red and gold trim around the neckline that matched the colours of her hair. The sleeves were ever so slightly puffed out, though not so much that they would impede the jacket. The skirt was a little more elaborate than Sunset might have chosen for herself, but it felt really soft, probably let her move more easily than the kind of short skirt she'd worn over there, and looking at it, it was growing on her by the second. It consisted of three skirts of different colours, first yellow, then purple, then gold, layered so that only a stripe of the yellow and purple were visible. It covered her cutie mark and then stopped, leaving her legs free.

And the jacket. It wasn't leather of course but it looked great anyway. The cut and design were perfect, and it had tiny emeralds sewn into the lapels amongst the rhinestones to bring out her eyes.

Of course the jacket meant she couldn't wear boots on her forehooves, and boots on her back legs would have looked odd, but Sunset didn't care at this point. She wasn't naked any more! She had clothes and they looked awesome."

"Aww yeah!" Sunset grinned. "I'm back, baby!"

Rarity smiled fondly. "And that, darling, is why."

Sunset looked at her. "Huh?"

"Why I make each item specifically, regardless of how impractical it is," Rarity reminded her. "The look on your face, the look on the faces of each of my customers, makes it worthwhile. After all, if each customer is unique, it only makes sense that what I sell them should be unique as well."

Sunset looked away, back at her reflection. "I..." Her objections remained, but on the other hand, she did _really_ like the way she looked right now. Would she have felt so good wearing something she'd brought off a rack someplace, made by strangers who didn't even know who she was?

No, she wouldn't.

"Yeah, yeah I think I get it now," Sunset murmured. And the weirdest thing was that she meant it. "I can't thank you enough for this, Rarity, you've know idea what this means to me."

Rarity smiled. "Yes I do."

Sunset looked into her eyes, and thought that maybe she did, at that.

"Thanks," she repeated quietly. "Twilight Sparkle is lucky to have you as a friend."

"And well she knows it, too," Rarity replied. "Thank you for help, Sunset, it was most appreciated. Now, I believe Pinkie Pie is expecting you."

"Yep," Sunset confirmed, and found she was not as nervous of it as she had been this morning. Well dressed and once more looking herself, Sunset felt as if she could tackle anything, even Pinkie Pie. She swaggered down the street, daring anypony to look at her in awe. She even started to hum.

_Back in black, that's right. Sunset Shimmer has returned._

* * *

The sign said that Sugarcube Corner was closed, but Sunset pushed open the door anyway, and found Pinkie Pie sitting on the floor waiting for her.

"Hey, Sunset!" Pinkie cried excitedly.

"Hey, Pinkie Pie," Sunset replied more coolly, glad that Pinkie hadn't leapt on her while she was wearing her new and only outfit.

"Whatcha wearing?"

"Rarity made it for me this morning, cool, isn't it?" Sunset turned around for Pinkie to admire her new look.

"Hey, that looks like what you used to─"

"Yep, and that's what makes it so cool," Sunset said. "All I need now is a pair of sunglasses. And maybe something to put in my mouth, like a toothpick. Then I'll look cool and awesome."

"But not right now, because we've got some work to do!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed cheerfully.

"Yeah, of course, what is it?" Sunset asked.

"Mr and Mrs Cake have gone out for the day, which is why we're closed, and I've already made the cakes for sale tomorrow. I just need you to clean up around here and make sure the cakes in the oven don't burn while I make sure that the Cakes in the crib don't get up to anything too crazy."

"The cakes in the... oh, right," Sunset said as she spotted the bassinet. She levitated the broom over to herself. "Right then, I'd better get started."

The manual labour was thoughtless, requiring little more than repetitive motion, so it was easy to get to talking. And even though Pinkie Pie had her back to Sunset, her eyes fixed on the pair of incredibly active babies, she still answered any question Sunset asked or statement she made.

"You know the other world, the one you dream about?" Sunset said.

"I sure do," Pinkie replied.

"Do you ever think about it? Other than when you're dreaming?"

Pinkie shrugged. "I guess. Not often though. Even if it is my real life, that doesn't mean I shouldn't _live_ here too, and if it isn't real then obsessing over it would just be silly."

"I guess that makes sense," Sunset said. "But, when you think about it, think about what you've seen, is there ever anything from that world that you think they have better than we have? That they do better than we do?"

"Nope," Pinkie said at once. "I'm happy the way I am right here."

"Really?" Sunset asked, incredulously. "There isn't anything you envy about the other side? Nothing at all?"

"Nope," Pinkie repeated. She twisted her head a little to half look at Sunset. "Why, what do you like better about that other place?"

Sunset shrugged. "Little things, mostly. Cars, computers, cellphones, the music on the other side, they have a good beat over there which we don't. How easy it is to be popular in high school, anypony can climb to the top if they're willing to act the right way, say the right things and─"

"And not be themselves at all?"

Sunset licked her lips, searching for a better way to phrase it. She couldn't. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"But isn't it better that here, anypony can be popular by being themselves?"

"Oh, please, I tried being myself and I had to go to another universe to find somepony who liked me. And even he didn't like me that much," Sunset said derisively. "I admit that there are a lot of things wrong with that place: everyone cares far too much about money, nobody respects anyone unless they're stinking rich, once you leave school you have to leave your soul behind - you know, I got the idea to turn all the students into zombies and invade Equestria from the fact that everyone there pretty much gets turned into a zombie anyway by their society, I thought they might as well be useful zombies working towards a purpose."

"There was this guy we had to read in school, who said that the idea society would be one where everypony - everyone - could do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to as they had a mind to do it, because they didn't have to worry about starving or making a living. And he thought enough people would love to do the things that need doing that society would still function. Everyone in that world thought he was crazy, but we have that here, more or less. So we can't have gotten it all wrong. Although it still doesn't explain the six of you."

"Huh? What's there to explain about us?" Pinkie asked.

"Why do you do all hold these insignificant jobs?" Sunset asked. "You're heroes. You wield the Elements of Harmony, the strongest magic known to pony kind. You defeated Nightmare Moon. And yet here you are in a Mom and Pop bakery. Applejack breaks her back trying to keep that farm afloat. Twilight Sparkle is an honest to goodness princess and yet she lives in a library nopony ever uses in a town that wouldn't even merit a train station if it wasn't so close to Canterlot. Why bother? Why aren't you doing book tours, or living the high life in Las Pegasus? Why aren't you in Applewood, producing the movie adaptation of your adventures? Why do you sit here doing all this ordinary stuff?"

Pinkie looked confused, as though she didn't understand the question. She frowned, hesitated, then finally she spoke, "Because, we don't enjoy using the Elements of Harmony. It isn't fun, it doesn't make anypony laugh, it isn't what I want to do and I don't think it's what anypony wants to do either. I don't want to be a hero, I don't want to spend my life shooting bad guys in the face with magic and I don't want other ponies to remember me for that either. I want to be remembered for throwing the most awesome parties in Equestria, for making everypony laugh till their sides split, not because of how many bad guys I beat up."

"So I'll use the Elements when I have to do, because there are meanies around who want to make everypony cry and I'm the only pony who can something about that, but I won't make a big thing out of it because my real life, the life I chose, is right here in this Mom and Pop bakery."

* * *

Sunset Shimmer didn't go straight back home after she was finished at Sugarcube Corner. Instead she went back to the library, entering without knocking, to find Twilight Sparkle reading a book by candle light. Spike was nowhere to be seen.

Twilight didn't look. "Ah, Sunset Shimmer, I've been expecting you. Sit down." Sunset didn't move. Twilight continued, "How was your day?"

"This was never about work, was it?" Sunset asked. "You wanted to make me spend time with your friends so that I could talk to them. So that they'd...befriend me."

"Did it work?" Twilight looked up. "Nice clothes."

"Thanks," Sunset said tersely, sitting down. "It was weird."

"Weird how?"

Sunset scrunched up her face. "I don't understand how you can all be so content to be so small."

"We are little ponies," Twilight pointed out.

"You know what I mean," Sunset said forcefully. "Rarity told me that the satisfaction of other ponies is what she lives for. Pinkie Pie told me that she'd rather be remembered as a party animal than as a hero. I don't get how none of you seem to feel any desire to make anything of yourselves, how none of you seem to have any ambition."

"Maybe you should talk to Rainbow Dash," Twilight murmured.

"I especially don't get you," Sunset went on. "I know we didn't cross paths at school that much, but I'd seen you coming."

Twilight looked at her quizzically. "You'd 'seen me coming'?"

"As a rival, a threat," Sunset said. "Everypony had heard of you, the prodigy with a mind like a needle who wasn't going to let anypony stand in her way. The most brilliant unicorn the school had ever seen. The marble pony who never put a hoof out of line. You scared the hay out of me, I thought if I didn't make it while you were still a filly I'd have to work twice as hard just to keep up with you. That's why I pushed Celestia so hard to let me get stronger, faster, because I knew once you caught up I'd be finished. How did a pony like that ever end up in a place like this?"

Twilight took a deep breath. "Well, first of all I'm flattered that you were so impressed with the competition." A slight blush appeared on her cheeks. "But, just because this isn't what I thought I wanted when I was young, doesn't mean it isn't what I needed, or what I wanted all along deep down."

"I never set out to be a hero. I never wanted to save the day. When Equestria needs me I'll be here, but until then, I don't see that I owe this country my whole life, or even my happiness, not even as a princess. The Element of Magic does not define me, any more than my wings or my title. I will live the life I choose."

Twilight leaned forward, staring right into Sunset's eyes. She looked so earnest, so sincere in her desire to help that Sunset wasn't sure what to make of it. "Sunset, I'm not going to stop you working on your computer project, but I will give you some heartfelt advice. Don't be too set on greatness, and don't be too dismissive of a normal life. You may find that fame comes with a pricetag too steep for you to pay."

Sunset was silent for a moment, mulling over what Twilight had said. Surprising, she found that she had a point. Did Princess Celestia have time to just hang out with her friends? Did she have any friends, or was all she had her unending life of service to the land? If she'd known what her life would become, would she have taken the throne and the crown, or would she have turned her back on both and told the ponies to find somepony else while she devoted herself to...whatever it was she did for fun, Sunset had never found out if the princess had any hobbies.

"I...I'll think about it," Sunset replied, surprising even herself by actually meaning it. "But, I learnt something else today as well."

"What?" Twilight asked.

"That if you create something that brings other ponies joy, then you can take joy in that, regardless of whether or not they put you on a pedestal for it," Sunset said. "So, if it's all the same to you, I'm going to continue my work for now."

Twilight said, "Fair enough, just so long as you don't think it makes you better than anypony else."

Sunset waited for her to say something else. Nothing else was forthcoming.

Sunset said, "So, am I working for you again tomorrow?"

"No," Twilight said. "But that doesn't mean that this will never happen again, so don't book out your calendar too far ahead."

Sunset laughed. "There isn't much chance of that."


	4. Coward

Chapter 4

Coward

"So, how do you plan to start on this project of yours?" Twilight asked politely, taking a sip out of a cup of tea.

Sunset sweetened her own tea with a little sugar, taking a drink. "I can't build anything out of thin air, so that means I have to start by gathering raw materials. Metal, mostly. The frame can be built out of anything, even wood I imagine, but the guts need to be metal or they won't conduct electricity."

Twilight nodded. "How are you going to get around that particular problem?"

"Magic," Sunset replied. "The same way that the movie theatre and the arcade get around it. Say, I don't suppose you could use royal funds to spring for an arcade machine for me to take apart? The graphics interface and stuff would be quite similar to what I need."

"Maybe later," Twilight said guardedly. "Once you've earned it."

"Earned it?"

"Earned my trust."

"We've progressed as far as tea, haven't we?" Sunset said, flashing a charming smile in Twilight's direction.

"You think that makes us close?" Twilight asked. "No wonder you turned out the way you did."

"Don't be like that," Sunset said. "You wouldn't have offered me anything to drink last week." She looked around the library. "Hey, where's Spike. I haven't seen him glaring at me all morning."

"He's gone to Canterlot on royal business," Twilight said.

"Royal business? Him? On his own?"

"It happens sometimes," Twilight murmured. She set her teacup down upon the table and looked thoughtful. "Usually when it's convenient for me to have him out of the house, like the night of the slumber party."

Sunset struck a coquettish pose. "Why, Princess Twilight, are you planning on seducing me?"

Twilight flushed crimson. "No! Why would you say something like that?"

"I was only joking. It wasn't as if I meant it."

"Oh."

"I do now."

"What?"

"Well, why are you blushing?" Sunset cackled. "You're too easy, Twilight Sparkle. You'd think living with that pink maniac, you would have developed a thicker skin." She stood up. "I've got to be going. Thanks for the tea." It was no substitute for coffee, but it did perk her up a little bit.

"Where are you going?" Twilight asked.

"The wastes east of town," Sunset replied. "Mining for copper isn't my thing, so I'm going to go scout for gems and then use them to buy what I need."

"Good luck," Twilight said.

Sunset nodded, and started towards the door. Before she could reach it somepony started knocking from the other side.

"Come in," Twilight said politely, rising to her hooves.

The door opened, revealing a dark blue unicorn with silver-white mane and grey eyes standing diffidently in the doorway.

"Pardon me, Princess Twilight Sparkle, but I was told that I could find Sunset Shimmer here if I hurried and I─" her eyes, darting around the library, found Sunset and widened a little. "Sunset."

Sunset's eyes were plenty wide themselves. For a moment her breath stuck in her throat, and when she spoke her voice was more hoarse than usual, "Eclipse?"

Eclipse stared at her. "So, it really is you."

Twilight cleared her throat. "I take it you know each other?"

Sunset gave a half-laugh. "Yeah, you could say that. Twilight Sparkle this is my little sister Eclipse. Eclipse, this is Twilight Sparkle my...supervisor."

Twilight smiled invitingly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Eclipse. Please, come in. Sit down. Would you like so tea?"

"No, thank you, Princess," Eclipse said quietly, stepping inside the library and closing the door after her. She stared at Sunset, while silence began to drag on.

"Would you like me to give you a moment in private?" Twilight suggested.

"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks," Sunset said impatiently, anxious to get Twilight out of the room so that she and her sister could catch up.

"No, thank you, but this won't take that long," Eclipse said. "I don't want to put you out."

"It's no trouble─" Twilight began.

"I said no," Eclipse snapped. She lowered her eyes and her voice became quiet again. "Sorry, Your Highness."

"Won't take long?" Sunset shook her head incredulously. "Come on, sis, it's been three years. I mean, how are you?"

"I'm good," Eclipse said.

"Good? Come on, Eclipse, work with me here," Sunset urged. "What are you up to? I mean, you came to see me, don't you want to talk?"

"I came to give you this," Eclipse said, taking a letter out of her saddle bag and levitating it over to Sunset. "Under the circumstances, I thought it was best to deliver it in person."

Sunset took hold of the letter in the grip of her own magic, opened it, and read the fine, cursive script.

_Dear Sunset Shimmer,_

_You are cordially invited to attend the wedding of Planed Surface and Eclipse to be held at the Canterlot Registry Office on Saturday the 21st of July at 2.00 PM. _

Sunset looked up. "You're getting married. To somepony named Planed Surface?"

"He's a carpenter," Eclipse explained.

"You're marrying a _carpenter_?"

"We won't starve. Or lack for furniture," Eclipse said defensively.

"Yeah, but come on, Eclipse. You could do better than that," Sunset said. "Is he even a unicorn?"

"He's an earth pony, and I love him," Eclipse said obstinately.

Sunset sighed. "Well, in that case, congratulations!" She smiled, but Eclipse did not smile back. Her face remained stern, almost a scowl. It made Sunset's own smile fade.

"So, yeah," Sunset said, looking away for a moment. "Um, thanks for the invite. I'll─"

"You're going to decline," Eclipse said firmly.

"I am?" Sunset asked, frowning.

"Yes." Eclipse said. "Planed Surface is a good stallion, he thinks that our wedding should be an occasion for both our families. It was him who said I should invite you, him who said I should come talk to you. So I came to tell you I don't want you anywhere near my wedding. I don't want you anywhere near me ever again. Ever."

Sunset blinked rapidly, a cold icy grip squeezing her stomach as she stepped away from her little sister. "But, why not?"

Eclipse laughed harshly. "Do you even have to ask? After everything you've done. I know what you did, Sunset. Princess Celestia told me everything when she came to tell you were back in Equestria. I can't believe you had the nerve to show yourself around here again, why did you come back?"

"What, you'd rather I'd stayed gone?" Sunset demanded angrily.

"Yes, because then I could tell everypony you were dead," Eclipse shouted.

"You told everypony that I was dead?" Sunset yelled. "What the hay, sis?"

"What was I supposed to tell them? That you were a traitor? That you were evil?"

"I'm not evil, I just─"

Eclipse cut her off. "Spare me your self-serving justifications. I'm not interested in hearing them."

"Come on, you've got to hear me out."

"Why?"

Sunset's face crumpled. "Because, we're family."

Eclipse's eyes burned with anger. "That's what you said when you stole my Pretty Princess doll and lost her. That's what you said when you raided my allowance to buy comics for yourself. That's what you said when we both got detention because _you_ convinced me to be your lookout while you rigged Lyra Heartstrings' room with pranks. All my life you told me I had to put up with your ponyfeathers because we were family. Well not any more. What did you ever do for me?"

"I looked out for you," Sunset said.

Eclipse laughed bitterly. "The only pony you have ever cared about it yourself! If you cared so much about your family you wouldn't have run away and disappeared for the last three years."

"Eclipse─"

"I don't care," Eclipse snapped. "Whatever you want to say, I don't care. Stay away from me." She opened the door. "Goodbye, Sunset, have a nice life." She closed the door softly behind her on the way out.

Sunset stood as still as stone in the library for a moment. Twilight's face was pale, but mostly she looked embarrassed to have been a witness to all of that.

"Sunset," she began, her voice tender and compassionate.

Sunset snarled wordlessly and kicked the table so hard her hoof began to throb with pain as the unicorn bust toppled onto the floor and rolled across it, stopped only by Twilight Sparkle's magic.

Sunset cleared her throat loudly, shifting uncomfortably beneath her jacket. "Right. So, where were we? Oh, yeah, I was leaving, right. See you tomorrow."

"Sunset wait," Twilight said. "Are you really going to ignore this?"

"Ignore what?"

"What just happened," Twilight said loudly. "Your sister─"

"I don't have a sister," Sunset snapped.

Twilight frowned. "Sunset Shimmer, I know that you may not like me very much, but you can't be alone at a time like this. You can't just shrug this off."

"Says who?" Sunset demanded. "Are you my guidance councillor on top of everything else?"

"You have to talk to somepony─"

"No, I don't," Sunset snarled. "I don't have to talk about this, I don't have to open up about my feelings, I don't have to hug or share or any other chick flick Doctor Phil nonsense. I am not going to cry on your shoulder, I am not going to chase after my sister and beg her to forgive me. I am going to handle this way I handle everything."

"You can't just pretend this didn't happen," Twilight cried.

"Watch me," Sunset shouted, stomping out the door. Unlike Eclipse she didn't bother to close it behind her.

* * *

Sunset walked out into the dusty brown wastes east of Ponyville, glad of the solitude as she kicked up dust with her hooves. Hardly anypony ever came out here unless, like her, they were prospecting for gems. It looked Rarity was doing something else today, so Sunset Shimmer had the whole wasteland to herself. Which was good, as she spent a good half an hour levitating rocks with her magic and throwing them as far as she could, yelling at the top of her lungs the whole time.

What right did Eclipse have to do that to her, to treat her like that? None at all! Showing up out of the blue just to tell Sunset that she hated her guts? What kind of pony behaved like that? What kind of person would have behaved like that?no human would have done that, that was for sure. If she didn't want Sunset to come to the wedding that was her own business, but all of the other stuff, that was just harsh.

"I didn't want to come to your stupid wedding anyway," Sunset said, pouting. "Though I'm sure you'll all have a lovely time eating off of tables that the groom made himself." She couldn't get over that, a carpenter. _Come on, little sister, have some standards._

"And I did not run away!" Sunset shouted up at the sky. "I left to pursue other projects. I didn't run away. I've never run away from anything!"

"No argument here, ma'am," a passing pegasus called down to her as he flew overhead.

Sunset rolled her eyes and stamped up some dust with her hooves. She supposed she'd better get to work, or Eclipse would have ruined Sunset's entire day.

Finding gems out there wasn't hard, but digging them out with bare hooves was more of a trial. She should have thought to bring a shovel, but she'd been too mad to get one.

"You see this, Eclipse, this is your fault. Don't say you never cause me to have a hard time," Sunset muttered as she scrabbled through the earth, getting dust and dirt all over them. She'd already taken off her jacket to keep it from getting ruined, tying it around her body so that it hung down like a cape, the way that people did in summer on hot days in the other world.

Sunset was sweating profusely as she worked. "Hey, Princess Celestia, do you think you could maybe move the sun a little further away before I get heatstroke?" The sun didn't move. "No? Please yourself I guess." Sunset wiped her brow. "I really should have brought a shovel."

"Sunset!"

Sunset looked up to see Twilight Sparkle trotting towards her.

"You left in such a huff, I thought you might need this," Twilight said, planting a shovel in the ground in front of her.

Sunset sighed. "A nice thought, but I'm fine." She went back to digging with her hooves.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Accepting help from others isn't weakness, you know."

"And being self-reliant isn't a sign of wickedness," Sunset replied.

Twilight shook her head. She watched Sunset work for a couple of moments before she said, "You'll ruin your clothes with sweat if you keep working in them like that."

Sunset frowned. "Then I'll wash them afterwards, or maybe ask Rarity to make me a couple more outfits. I can't wear the same stuff every day after all, can I?"

"Why do you need to wear anything at all?" Twilight asked. "Most ponies don't bother except on special occasions."

Sunset huffed and stopped work for a moment. She looked Twilight in the eye. "I am not most ponies, now am I?"

"I know that, but it half seems to me that you're trying to set yourself apart from everypony else."

"Ah, well there is a very good reason for that."

"What?"

"I _am_ trying to set myself apart from everypony else."

"But why?" Twilight asked.

"Because I'm already different so I might as well stop pretending otherwise and be myself," Sunset said loudly. "I went to another world, Twilight Sparkle. I lived among a whole different race of beings. I've had experiences no other pony has except you, and you didn't spend one percent of the amount of time there that I did. Like it or not, that place changed me, and I don't see why I shouldn't recognise that."

"But it isn't normal," Twilight said.

"No, it isn't," Sunset agreed, with a look daring Twilight to make anything more of it.

Twilight frowned. "Do you wish you'd stayed there? On the other side of the mirror?"

"Nah," Sunset said, shaking her head. "If I'd done that, best case is that I'd be going to animal shelters with Fluttershy and talking to stuffed unicorns. As opposed to digging up earth with my bare hooves and talking to you. Huh, maybe I should have stayed after all."

"There's the shovel," Twilight pointed out.

"Yes, I know," Sunset shouted. "Don't you have anything better to do than annoy me?"

"Well, I─" Twilight began to speak as a large shadow loomed up over her.

"Twilight, look out!" Sunset yelled.

Twilight twisted round, a panicked look on her face, a split second before something brained her on the back of the head with an audible clunk. Twilight's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she collapsed in a heap on the ground.

A trio of big, burly dogs emerged from under the earth, rubbing their hands with glee.

"Look what we have here? Pony Princess, yes?"

Sunset's heart was beating rapidly now, her breath ragged with fear. She whispered, "Leave her alone."

"Or what?" one of the dogs demanded. "Go, tell ponies that we ransom princess for many gems. Yes, yes, many precious gems."

"This one knows how to find gems," another dog, bigger and meaner looking, pointed out. "Maybe we take her too, have her find gems for us."

He lunged for Sunset, whose magic flared upon instinct. Sunset disappeared in a flash, teleporting twenty away from the dogs. No sooner had she reappeared than she started to run, without even waiting to see if they were following her.

"Run little fraidy-pony," the dogs crowed. "Run, and tell pony folk to bring precious gems if they want see princess again!"

Sunset didn't look back, didn't say anything, didn't let any sound escape her except her frantic breathing. She had to escape, she had to get away. The teeth, the claws, Celestia save her!

She had to get out of this waste. Who knew where those dogs might pop up, springing out of the ground to devour her. Their teeth like knives, their claws like spear points. She had to escape. She had to get back to Ponyville where it was safe. She wasn't going to let them get her like they'd gotten Twilight Sparkle.

She'd go back to Ponyville, go home, lock the door...

And tell everypony that she'd run away and let their princess get taken away by monsters.

Sunset tripped over her own hooves, falling down the riverbank and into the stream which ran into Ponyville. She landed in the water, soaking her new outfit and her mane. She shook her head, water droplets falling out of her mane and onto her nose, and gazed at her reflection in the water.

"Don't feel too bad, Sunset," her reflection said. "After all, isn't running away what you always do in times like this."

"It's called picking your battles," Sunset snapped. "It's how you keep winning."

"Oh, is that what you call it," the reflection sneered. "Just call it cowardice, its more accurate."

"I am not a coward," Sunset said. "What was I supposed to do back there?"

"You tell me, you're the magical prodigy. You're the one who wanted to rule all of Equestria. Tell me, if you had led an army through the mirror would you have backed down the moment Celestia looked at you funny?"

"Shut up."

"Such rapier wit," the reflection said mockingly. "But at least your consistent. You've never liked to pick on people your own size, have you?"

"That isn't true."

"You knew that Fluttershy wouldn't fight back, so you were harder on her than on anyone else. You always knew everyone's breaking point, and you never pushed anyone so far that they stood up to you."

"Because I was smart!"

"Because you were afraid! Because you knew that if they stood up to you, then all your power would crumble like a hollow eggshell. You're pathetic. All you've done your whole life is run away. You ran away from Equestria, you ran away from the mirror world, now you're running away again."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Sunset yelled, splashing water everywhere to get rid of her reflection amidst the ripples. She sobbed, bowing her head and letting her wet mane fall to obscure her face.

Tears began to fall down her nose and into the water.

"It's true," Sunset whispered. "I am a coward."

And yet, where could she run to this time? Ponyville would not forgive her for abandoning Twilight. There was nowhere in Equestria that she could go where Celestia would not find her. Did she really imagine that she would be given a second chance after this? She would have to leave Equestria altogether, and even then, she wouldn't be free of what she'd done. It would follow her all of the days of her life like the Mark of Cain, a sign of evil upon her warning other ponies to shun her and her company.

"I will never be free of it, unless I do something now," Sunset murmured. She still had time. Nopony knew what she had done. If she went back now, then they need never know. They might even call her a hero.

She wrung her jacket out, put it back on, then turned the collar up for no other reason then because it made her look a bit more badass. She really missed not having a pair of sunglasses.

"Right," Sunset muttered to herself. "Can't run away, I suppose I'll have to move forward."

With nowhere else to go, she headed back into the waste, following her own terrified hoofprints until she reached the spot where she had been digging. There was a nearby hole which was probably where they had taken Twilight. Sunset looked down it, took a deep breath, and teleported in after her.

She materialised with a flash inside a deep, dark tunnel. It was like some videogame level, or a scene out of a book. Sunset half expected an armed welcoming party to jump out at her.

"Deep breaths, Sunset, deep breaths," Sunset said, her horn glowing to provide some slight in these catacombs. "Remember: you are awesome, you are a demon, you are all that and a bag of chips. You can do this."

She hoped her legs weren't trembling too hard as she set off down the tunnel.

"Twilight Sparkle?" she yelled. "Twilight Sparkle?"

There was no answer. Only the darkness and the cold and the earthy confines pressing down all around her.

"Come on, Twilight Sparkle, answer me," Sunset called out nervously.

Was it her, or was the tunnel getting smaller? Was the roof about to collapse and bury her? Were dogs about to appear from all directions and have her for dessert?

Sunset closed her eyes, then found she could barely open them again to open them again for fear of what she might see.

Unbidden, a song from her childhood came to lips, one of the old traditional songs you heard every holiday. A song to keep the monsters away.

"The fire of friendship lives in our hearts,

So long as it burns we cannot drift apart," Sunset's voice trembled, her pitch was all over the place and she barely kept the tune.

But then, in answer, another voice took up the song.

"Though sorrows arise their numbers are few,

Laughter and singing will see us through."

"Quiet, pony!"

"Twilight Sparkle!" Sunset yelled, rushing towards the sound of the singing. "Hold on, Twilight, I'm coming."

She burst out of the tunnel into a spacious cavern, where Twilight Sparkle sat trussed up in rough, dirty rope, her wings tied down and her horn clamped so tightly, it was a wonder she wasn't getting a migraine. The three dogs from before stood between her and Twilight, and Sunset could hear other things moving in the shadows beyond her sight.

"Back again, fraidy-pony?" the big, mean looking dog taunted.

Sunset scowled. She could do this. She had terrorised an entire student body for three years, she could bluff these filthy mutts for a few moments. "There's an old earth expression: bite me!"

"I've come to get our princess back," Sunset declared. "Give her to me and we'll say no more about this...mistake, on your part."

The dogs cackled. "You threatening us, fraidy-pony."

"THREATEN!" Sunset's voice boomed out, echoing across the cavern as her horn glowed brighter than before. "I DO NOT THREATEN, DOG. I PROMISE." Sunset's whole body burst into flame until her body disappeared behind the aura of an alicorn, blazing with wrath. "YOU MEDDLE WITH FORCES GREATER THAN YOU KNOW. I AM NO MERE PONY. I AM SUNSET SHIMMER, THE FIERY DEMON OF EQUESTRIA, THE HIDDEN WEAPON IN CELESTIA'S ARSENAL. IF THERE IS ONE PONY IN THIS LAND YOU SHOULD NOT OFFEND IT IS I, FOR I AM MORE POWERFUL THAN ALL THE UNICORNS COMBINED! YIELD TO ME, OR I WILL TEAR THE ROOF FROM YOUR LAIR AND DRAG YOU INTO THE SUNLIGHT FOR THE SPORT OF THE COMMON HERD! FLEE, FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Sunset's flames began to spread throughout the cavern, her wings of shadow spread from wall to wall. To the dogs she appeared to be twenty feet tall, and turning the earth to ash beneath her hooves. She heard the dogs screaming in terror, heard them run for their lives, leaving Twilight alone to stare up at Sunset with wide eyes.

"Sunset?"

The clamp on Twilight's horn shattered, the ropes confining her fell away. Then all the glamours on Sunset's voice and appearance disappeared and she stood before Twilight as she always was.

"Well that was fun," Sunset muttered.

"You came for me," Twilight said gratefully.

"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it," Sunset said quickly. "Now, we should get out of here before they come back..." Her legs gave way beneath her and Sunset toppled to the ground, striking the dirt with a heavy thud. She heard Twilight yelling her name, but the sound of her voice was faint and distant.

Sunset couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything. She felt so very tired...

Sunset Shimmer opened her eyes to see an unfamiliar ceiling above her.

"Sunset?" Twilight's voice was soft, concerned, a gentle caress to her ears.

Sunset looked for her. She found Twilight sitting by her bedside. Sunset herself, she saw, was connected to a half dozen drips of various kinds.

"I'm in hospital?" Sunset asked, trying to sit up.

"Stay down," Twilight said anxiously, pushing her back down onto the bed. "The doctor said you shouldn't exert yourself, even a little. Yes, you're in hospital. You collapsed with complete magical exhaustion. You were totally drained."

"Well, duh," Sunset said softly, grinning. "You think all that god-tier stuff is easy?"

"You'll have to stay here for a few days, until you're magic has recovered," Twilight said.

"What about our meetings?"

Twilight chuckled. "I'll come to see you for a change. Sunset Shimmer...thank you, for saving me."

"You would have done the same for me," Sunset replied. She paused. "Wouldn't you?"

"Probably," Twilight replied. "Hey, Sunset, why did you do it? Come and get me, and all by yourself?

Sunset looked long and hard into Twilight's face, suffused with concern for her. She said, "Because I need you." She grinned. "Besides, it was a pleasure to play hero for such a cute princess."

Twilight flushed.

"Just don't give up on me, okay," Sunset said. "No matter what happens, promise you won't turn your back on me."

Twilight leaned in close to whisper, "Never. I promise."


	5. Different

Chapter 5

Different

Sunset Shimmer stared up at the blank ceiling of the hospital ward. It was the only place she could look without feeling embarrassed.

The doctors wouldn't let her out. They said her magic wasn't recharged enough yet. So she was stuck here, in this bed, in this room, in this hospital.

That wouldn't have been so bad, if only Twilight's friends hadn't kept sending her stuff.

The reason Sunset had to stare at the ceiling was because she didn't know where else to look. Everywhere she cast her gaze, there was another sign of abundant generosity. A bouquet of flowers at on her bedside table, along with a very large homemade 'Get Well Soon' card with everypony's signature inside. A bunch of balloons ─ red and yellow balloons, to be precise ─ were tied to the foot of the bed. Pinkie Pie had sent her a box of candy, and Applejack a small basket of apples. Rarity had washed and pressed Sunset's clothes ─ they were folded up on the chair on the other side of the room ─ and from what Sunset remembered of her last visit had been talking about making some more for her.

Nopony had ever been this nice to her before. Nopony had ever given her this much stuff at once before. The closest Sunset had ever come to it before was getting presents from Princess Celestia, and that didn't really count because it was like getting presents from your mom. Sunset didn't know what she was supposed to think about all of this stuff, what she was supposed to do with it.

She'd started eating the candy and the apples, because you ought to take what you can get when you can get it, but that didn't lessen her confusion about why she'd been given them in the first place.

When she was a filly, Sunset had gotten tonsillitis. She'd been pulled out of school and taken to hospital. In the end she had to have an operation. When she got back it was as though she'd never been away. Nopony had cared. There'd been no card, no candy, nothing.

She just didn't get why they were doing this. What did they want out of her in return?

Or where they just doing this because they thought she was a hero? The thought made Sunset sick in her stomach. She'd never bothered to hide who or what she was, the world could take her as it found her or not, she didn't care. Sunset wasn't sure she wanted to start living a lie now.

Of course, there was one pony who hadn't sent her anything. That hurt a little. You would have thought being laid up in hospital would be enough to get a little sister's attention, but apparently not.

And she'd been the only pony who seemed to care when Sunset had tonsillitis, too.

"This sucks," Sunset murmured, reaching for the box of candy. The doctors had forbidden her from using magic until she was fully recharged, so Sunset had to fumble with her hooves to grab the box and then contort her neck like a circus act to get her teeth around one of the soft centres.

_Mmm, strawberry cream, tasty._

"I miss hands," Sunset muttered, after she swallowed down the last of the chocolate.

The door to her room slid open. Sunset was expecting the nurse, or maybe a doctor. Possibly lunch. Instead, Twilight's friends walked in, minus Twilight Sparkle herself, to stand in a line expectantly in front of the bed like they were some kind of welcoming committee.

"Howdy, Sunset Shimmer," Applejack greeted her brightly. "How do you feel?"

"I feel like I'm malingering sitting in this bed," Sunset replied. "Just because I can't do magic doesn't mean I can't walk around, does it? Earth ponies seem to manage okay."

"We wouldn't want you to get hurt again from overdoing it," Fluttershy murmured.

"You wouldn't?" Sunset asked. All of these ponies had been there when she followed Twilight back through the mirror from the other world. They all knew she'd been bad. Weren't they at least a little glad to see her like this?

Or was this all because they thought she was somepony that she really wasn't?

"Why in Equestria would we want you to get hurt again?" Rarity asked.

"We wouldn't want to hurt you," Pinkie Pie said brightly. "After all, you never did anything to _us_. You must be getting us confused with the other us, silly, the ones that you tormented and terrorised and threw a fireball at when you turned into that big scary monster."

"She did what?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"Oh, just a dream I had, probably nothing," Pinkie said, her tone still bright and breezy.

Sunset coughed. "Yeah, so, anyway. Girls, can we just cut through it for a minute?" she squeezed Bab the bunny close to her between her leg and her body, as if she were still a filly and thought that he might give her courage. "I think you should take all this stuff back. I know I've eaten some of the candy, and a couple of the apples, so I'll pay for those when I get out of here, but as for the rest─"

"Take it back?" Fluttershy asked. "Did I pick the wrong kinds of flowers?"

"No, the flowers have a really nice smell and they do make the room look a little brighter but─"

"Didn't you like the balloons?" Pinkie Pie asked, her eyes as soft as a puppy-dog's.

"No, I liked the balloons, good job picking the same colours as my mane by the way, it's just that─"

"Do you not like the card?" Rarity asked. "Should I not have let Sweetie Belle and her friends make it. I know they won't be getting their cutie marks for designing greetings cards any time soon but I thought it had a certain charm to it."

"The card is very nice," Sunset said, a touch of impatience finding its way into her voice.

"Did the candy give you a stomach ache?" Pinkie guessed. "Ooh! Or was it the apples?"

"Hey, mah apples are all one hundred quality assured by Granny Smith herself," Applejack protested. "Apples indeed."

"It's not the candy or the apples," Sunset growled.

"Then what is it?" Rainbow Dash demanded.

"Why are you all being so nice to me?" Sunset shouted, causing Fluttershy to recoil from her a little. She continued more quietly. "Nopony is ever this nice to me. I don't understand and I don't want to owe any of you anything. I don't want to owe anypony anything. I don't know what you want from me. I don't want to know. I just...I don't want you to fake it with me. I don't want you to pretend because you think you'll get something. I don't want to owe you anything," she repeated. "So please, just take all of this stuff and go."

There was a moment of silence. Sunset looked down at the sheet that covered her body. She squeezed her bunny rabbit tighter still.

"Owe us?" Rarity sounded incredulous. "Whatever are you talking about, dear?"

"Huh?" Sunset looked up. Twilight's friends looked confused, but not angry as she'd expected.

"We didn't give you this stuff because we wanted anything out of you," Applejack said. "We did it to say thank you, for the way you helped Twilight get away from those canine varmints."

"I mean, I could have totally stormed those caves and rescued Twilight myself," Rainbow Dash said. "But you saved me the effort, so that's cool too."

"You always know the right thing to say," Rarity remarked archly.

"It's a gift."

"These little things are the least we could do after what you did for us," Fluttershy said.

"You helped our friend out of a tight spot, and that kinda makes you our friend too," Applejack said.

Sunset's lips worked silently, no sound coming out of them. It took her a moment to find her voice. "You mean... it's free? No strings attached?"

"Well, duh," Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes.

Sunset blinked. "You guys. I don't know what to say." She paused. "Literally, I've no idea what to say next, I've never been here before."

"How about, 'thank you'?" Fluttershy suggested.

"Oh, yeah. Um, thanks. It, er... thanks."

"You're welcome, Sunset," Fluttershy said, a contented smile settling on her face.

Then Pinkie Pie started to giggle. "Oh, silly. The reason why nopony was ever nice to you was because you weren't nice to them! Now that you're doing good things for other ponies, you'll start to see them doing kind things for you!"

Sunset kept her mouth shut, even as her mind recoiled from the inanity of such kindergarten-level moralising.

Kindergarten...but not without a grain of truth or two to it. Sunset cast her mind back through her life, and through the lens of Pinkie's words, trying to think of anypony who she might have expected to care whether she got sick or not, whether she ever came back to school. Her memory drew a blank. It did, less than helpfully, supply a few names who might have been quite glad to never have to set eyes on her again.

_You're thinking like a biped. This is happy-happy land where everypony forgives on the drop of a hoof and nopony holds a grudge._Or was it? The people she'd met on the other side of the mirror all had their exact duplicates in Equestria: Pinkie Pie was just as crazy, Rarity just as much a diva as the other Pinkie and Rarity she had known and made miserable. Was it possible there was no moral difference between the two? Was it possible that the Equestria she had plotted to overrun had never really existed at all, that she had created it in her mind during her long absence like a sailor who returns from a lengthy voyage to find his home is smaller and dirtier than he remembered?

That would explain why nopony had ever rushed to be her friend. A storybook hero might weep for their enemy, but in Equestria there were neither heroes nor villains - even Twilight Sparkle and her friends, who had more claim upon heroic status than anypony in Equestria save, perhaps, Princess Celestia herself, had disclaimed it - only people, and the compassion of people was, no matter what certain poets might say, a strained resource. It had to be earned before it could be tapped.

_And what does that mean for me?_ Sunset had claimed the villain's mantle because the hero role had been denied to her, but if there were neither villains nor heroes, then what had she been doing?

_Was I never as different as I thought I was?_

_Or does the fact that I can think like this prove that I always was different?_

You could hurt your head letting it go around in circles that way, and besides if she sat there without saying anything for too long everypony was going to think there was something wrong with her, so Sunset forced a smile and said, "I guess so, Pinkie Pie. Hey, can I ask, where is Twilight Sparkle anyway?"

"She's gone to Canterlot," Pinkie said.

Sunset frowned. "Huh. Okay. Do you know why?"

"She came to speak to me," the door slid open again, and this time it was Princess Celestia who stood in the doorway, barely avoiding having to stoop in order to fit through. "In Spike's absence it was the swiftest way for her to send me a message. She will be returning shortly."

Twilight's friends bowed as Princess Celestia strode majestically into the room. Sunset herself could not bow, obviously, but bent her head and averted her eyes as best she could. Celestia was radiant, giving off such brightness that, if she chosen not to raise the sun but merely to walk in its absence, she could still have given day to all Equestria.

"I trust you are all well, my little ponies?" Celestia asked, implicitly excluding Sunset from that statement. "It is wonderful to see you all again, but I am afraid I must ask you for some privacy while I speak with Sunset Shimmer."

They took the point, filing quickly and quietly out of the hospital room. Only Pinkie Pie remained to offer a cheery, "See you soon!" Then she bounced out after her friends.  
Sunset was left alone with the princess. Celestia did not look at her, walking to the window and staring out of it. Sunset felt the urge to look away in turn. There was an abyss between them, an abyss of Sunset's own creation. It was so wide and so deep, Sunset was not sure why Princess Celestia had come. What could possibly bridge the gap between them?

"It's a nice day, isn't it?" Sunset said, aware of how stupid she sounded but a loss for anything clever to say. "But then, I suppose you'd know. After all you made it this way."

Celestia murmured some half-spoken acknowledgement. Then she said, "You look well. I trust you are being well looked after?"

"Oh, yeah. If I'd known you could get all this free stuff from getting ill I'd be sick more often," Sunset replied.

Celestia did not laugh. "I am glad to know they're taking care of you."

"Really? I thought you'd be glad I couldn't do magic for a few days," Sunset said. "I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that."

"Perhaps I did," Princess Celestia said softly.

"Huh?"

Celestia turned around, to look Sunset in the eye. "When Twilight told me what had happened...what you had done, I scarcely believed it. At first I did not believe it. If it had been anypony but Twilight Sparkle I doubt I could have been convinced. I did not think that you could ever do something so, so selfless. Evidently I was wrong. When I think of what could have happened to Twilight...I owe you a debt, Sunset Shimmer, but more than that I owe you an apology. I was wrong about you." A single tear rolled down Celestia's cheek. "It appears I have misjudged you terribly."

Sunset was shocked by the tear, by the look of regret on Celestia's face, all of it. More than that, she was uncomfortable. This was worse than the squirming embarrassment she had felt as Twilight's friends praised her for something she had not done, worse than the gratitude of Twilight Sparkle herself. Princess Celestia had been a colossal figure in her fillyhood, inviolable as the sun itself. To see her like this, vulnerable, flawed, felt deeply wrong on some instinctive level. She had never thought of the princess this way, nor did she really want to.

It was too much. Far too much.

"Please, princess, don't do that," Sunset said quietly. "I don't deserve it."

"But-"

"I ran away," Sunset confessed, the tightness in her chest lightening as soon as the words left her. "When those dogs appeared I got scared and I ran and I left Twilight to them. She doesn't remember that because they knocked her out. But I did. I abandoned her. I ran away because I was afraid and the only reason I went back was because I got even more scared of what would happen if I showed up without her. I don't deserve these things, I certainly don't deserve to have you standing here and apologising to me. I'm just a coward, and I deserve your scorn worse than I did before."

"Oh, Sunset, no," Princess Celestia said, her tone materal as she shook her head from side to side. "There is no shame in fear, none at all. If you were not afraid you would not be a pony. Did you think you had to be completely fearless in order to be brave? It does not matter how frightened you were when you went back for Twilight. What matters is that you did go back, and you saved her. Actions speak louder than words every time, and your actions on Twilight's behalf were very brave. You did not let the fear you felt rule you, and that is what matters."

"But you're not afraid of anything," Sunset protested. "And, even on the other side, in this whole world, even when I turned into a monster, Twilight Sparkle never seemed afraid of me."

"You are wrong, Sunset," Celestia replied. "I fear many, many things. And, though I cannot speak for Twilight, I imagine that she would say the same."

Sunset lay down, the pillow scrunching up beneath her head. "Everypony has been so nice to me," she murmured. "Princess, do you think there is something wrong with me?"

"Wrong with you?"

"When I was a filly," Sunset said. "I used to have this book, an illustrated history. It was all broken down into stories, very old-fashioned, not serious scholarship at all, but I loved it. I used to read the stories about Clover the Clever over and over again, sometimes I'd just stare at the gorgeous pictures. I used to wish that I could go on a quest like Clover did, that I could be the hero and save everypony."  
"And then I'd look at everypony all around me, laughing and joking while I sat there with my books, and I realised that I could never be the hero and I could never go on a quest because I wasn't a good girl like everypony else. I couldn't make friends, and if you can't make friends in Equestria then you'll never be anything but a nopony and nopony will ever care about you.  
"Then I started to wonder why I couldn't make friends, why I couldn't laugh with everypony else, why they all seemed so stupid, so small to me. I wondered why I was so different to everypony else and I realised that it must be because I was some kind of freak: abnormal, unclean. And freaks don't get to be heroes, even here. So I became the villain instead, because I thought it was the only part there was for a bad girl. But now I've started thinking about how nopony seems to think like me, and whether that means that I'm even more of a freak than I thought, and maybe the reason the Element of Magic turned me into a monster is because in my head I always was one."  
Sunset closed her eyes. "I used to hate the way you'd tell me to do things that I couldn't do, like make friends. I used to wonder why you didn't just use your magic to make me normal if that's what you wanted. But you couldn't, could you, because I was too broken. So I suppose I should thank you for treating a monster like a pony for as long as you-"

"Hush," Celestia knelt down, draping one wing over Sunset's form. "Hush now, and say nothing more. You are not a monster, you are not a freak. You may be different but that is not something to reproach yourself over."

"But-"

"Sometimes," Celestia murmured. "Equestria can be a cruel place. I am sorry, Sunset."

"Sorry?" Sunset's voice was quiet, childlike. "What for?"

"Every mistake I made with you. I learned from them, but for you I learnt too late," Celestia replied, her tone filled with anguish. "I am sorry."

"Don't apologise, it feels weird," Sunset said hoarsely. "After all, it isn't as though I haven't made a lot of mistakes myself. I suppose I'd better start learning from them too."

Celestia laughed as she stood up. "I suppose you had. Let us both agree to learn and do better from here on."

"I'm sure Twilight will keep me in line," Sunset muttered. "Princess...I'm glad you came." The chasm between them felt a little narrower now.

"I'm glad we had this opportunity to talk," Celestia said. "With hindsight, we should have spoken like this earlier. Every mistake I learn from it seems I make a new one. Such is life, it seems, even for me. Goodbye, Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset bowed her head. "Goodbye, Princess."

As Celestia left, she said, "All right, Spike, you can go in now."

_More visitors?_ Sunset facehoofed. Just because she didn't have a lot to do didn't mean she want a bit of privacy some of the time.

But no, there was Spike, scuttling in with an inscrutable look on his face. He stood there glaring at her. Just the sight of him made Sunset want to flick his face. She wasn't sure why she enjoyed riling Spike up more than anyone else, unless it was because he was more openly hostile to her than any pony.

"I don't like being wrong," Spike said defiantly.

"Children rarely do," Sunset drawled.

"But apparently you did a pretty good thing for Twilight-"

"That's what they tell me," Sunset replied.

"Why are you acting like this?" Spike demanded. "I'm trying to apologise here!"

"Maybe I don't want your apology."

"Well too bad, you're getting it!" Spike yelled. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so hard on you! You're not as bad as I thought!" His tone was the perfect opposite to his words.

Sunset started to laugh. "Making an apology sound like an declaration of hatred, that's quite a talent, Spike."

Spike glowered at her for a moment, then started to chuckle.

Sunset grinned. "Come here a moment."

Spike approached.

"No, closer, right up to the bed," Sunset waved him nearer. Spike came close, close enough to touch. So Sunset poked him in between the eyes with her forehoof."

"Ow! What was that for?"

"That was remind you not to be too nice to me," Sunset said simply. "I don't want everyone to start giving me flowers, it's too much at once. I need you to keep me on my hooves, okay?"

"Um, okay?"

"Thanks, jerk," Sunset said brightly.

Spike frowned. "Why are you calling me a jerk?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "You're supposed to insult me back. I say 'jerk', I say something else, I saw it on TV."

"TV?"

"Never mind," Sunset sighed. "Run along, Spike."

She rolled over onto her side as Spike left. _The sooner I get out of here the better._


	6. Housewarming

Chapter 6

Housewarming

Sunset Shimmer pushed open the hospital doors and walked down the steps leading out of the building. Straightening her jacket on her shoulders, Sunset whistled tunelessly as she stepped off the stone and onto the grass.

It was good getting out of that place. Good to get the sterile smell out of her nostrils and replaced with fresh air, good to be eating decent food again instead of what they served up on the wards for dinner. Being in hospital, in Sunset's opinion, was like being in a prison where the jailer was your own body, and getting discharged was freedom.

She wouldn't be going back to the wastes again, that was for sure. Sunset wasn't one to tempt either fate or Diamond Dogs, and she certainly had no desire to require a rescue of her own. She tried to imagine what it would be like to have Twilight rescue her, and found it was excruciatingly embarrassing; although not without a frisson of excitement at the same time.

Sunset shook her head to clear her thoughts. It was never going to happen so why bother thinking about it? She needed to think of a new way to acquire raw materials if she wasn't going to harvest gems. She might, and the thought made her shudder a little, have to get a part time job to earn money. Sunset had managed to avoid work all through high school, mostly by the expedient of leeching off her boyfriend. But that wasn't really an option here, and she couldn't expect the princess to keep supporting her forever.

She wasn't a bad cook, if she said so herself, maybe the restaurant was hiring?

But the horrors of work were, for the moment, still safely in the future. Sunset found that she didn't want to think about that right now. And she didn't want to go home either. The skies were clear and the sun was warm, it wasn't a day for sitting in a dark house drawing schematics or making plans, it wasn't a day for trying to work while the sunlight through the window nearly blinded you. Sunset wanted to lie down under a tree and nap in the shade, never caring who saw her, or sit and read among the flowers while she ate strawberries and drank cider. She had three years of pony literature to catch up on, after all, maybe Twilight could recommend her the best stuff she'd missed.

This day was too nice to even think about working.

Sunset set off with a spring in her step, turning up her collar and humming a few bars of 'Maneater' to herself as she trotted down the lane.

She closed her eyes as she let her hooves carry her towards the library. "Hey, Twilight, are you in there? Or are you still in Canterlot?"

"Yes, I'm still in the palace right now."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "There's no call for sarcasm, I'm sure." She pushed open the door and stepped inside. "Hey, when did you get back?"

"This morning," Twilight replied, looking up from the book she was reading. "When did you get out of the hospital?"

"A few minutes ago," Sunset said. "Listen, um, I appreciate it, sort of, but you didn't need to lay it on so strong with Princess Celestia. What you told her and all. It was a bit embarrassing."

Twilight raised one eyebrow curiously. "You didn't like being praised?"

"I didn't like being in a situation I didn't understand," Sunset said.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Sunset said gruffly. "Just...thanks, but no thanks, okay?"

Twilight blinked. "Okay. So, is that what you came here to say?"

"No, no, that was just something I wanted to say while I was here," Sunset walked around the library table until she was standing behind Twilight, reading over her shoulder. "Celestia acted swiftly to deal with the chaos that followed Princess Luna's banishment... you're reading history? Come on, Twilight, you can't study on a day like this."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not natural," Sunset said exasperatedly. "If you have to read, then read outside in the sun, and don't read something so heavy either, unless you think it will help you take a nap later."

"Did you come here to drag me outside or something?"

"No, I came here to get a book, I haven't read anything written by a pony in years," Sunset said. "Something light, frothy, but good."

"I guess I am still the librarian around here," Twilight marked her page in the history book as she rose to her hooves. "What kind of genres do you like?"

"Wish fulfilment fluff," Sunset replied.

"Really?" Twilight sounded half-aghast. "With the red and black alicorns and the overpowered magic? That kind of wish-fulfilment."

"Yeah, what about it?" Sunset asked challengingly.

"Nothing," Twilight said primly. "I just thought you had better taste."

"Oh, well excuse me, Princess Twilight Smug, but those of us who didn't actually get to be alicorns like to be taken out of ourselves sometimes. Do you honestly mean to tell me that you never wished that you had ridiculous amounts of power compared to anypony else, and everypony who wasn't a hissingly evil villain would be kissing your hooves wherever you went?"

"No," Twilight answered with perfect sincerity.

Sunset stared at her for a moment. "Yeah, that makes sense. Probably why you got the wings and I didn't. Anyway, do you think there's a book here that I'd like or not?"

"I suppose there probably is something suitably trashy around here someplace," Twilight murmured.

"Oh, don't talk about me like that. Just because I like something a little lowbrow some times doesn't mean I can't appreciate literature as well as you can," Sunset protested. "I suppose you mainly read textbooks?"

"Not at all. I have every Daring Do book delivered on release date," Twilight declared. "I just prefer stories that can combine adventure and excitement with nuanced characterisation and developed worldbuilding."

"World building?" Sunset grinned. "You're such a nerd."

"Says the mare who reads novels about black and red alicorns and who got mad because her comic books changed while she was away," Twilight pointed out archly.

Sunset blinked. "Touche, Princess."

Twilight chuckled as she began to climb the steps onto the second floor of the library. "So you want something as awful as your preference, or do you want something that's actually halfway decent?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Okay, what would you recommend?"

Twilight's horn glowed lavender as the aura of her magic surrounded it. A book flew off a nearby shelf towards her, before Twilight lowered it onto the table in front of Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset looked down at it. The book was called _A Nightingale Sang_, and it had a picture of the titular bird on the front cover. Sunset gripped the tome with her own magic and flipped it over to read the blurb on the back.

"It's my second favourite novel," Twilight said, trotting back down the stairs. "It's incredibly well written. Since I've moved to Ponyville I've really appreciated what a brilliant depiction of small town life it is. I re-read it every year, or try to."

"How often do you read your actual favourite?" Sunset asked.

"I don't have it any more," Twilight said, sounding a little unhappy about it.

Sunset looked up. "Why not? What's the book?"

"_The Silk and Cotton Bunny_," Twilight said. "I read it when I was a filly. I cried my eyes out. Have you read it?"

Sunset shook her head. "I've never even heard of it. What's it about?"

"It's about a stuffed rabbit who becomes real through the love of her owner," Twilight explained. "When I was little, I thought that if I loved Smartypants enough she'd become a real donkey just like the bunny did. But now, when I think back on it, I sometimes think that I'm more like the bunny myself: living in Ponyville I've become real through the love of my friends."

"Real? What were you before, a ghost?"

"I wasn't living, not really," Twilight said, taking the last few stairs to rejoin Sunset on the ground floor. "I only existed, I didn't live. I was like you."

"Gee, thanks."

"I just meant..." Twilight looked as though she was pondering how to say it. "Do you think anyone on the other side of the mirror misses you?"

Sunset harrumphed a little to cover up the fact that the obvious answer was no. She cleared her throat loudly. Then she looked away. Finally she conceded, "Probably not, no."

"Then you weren't living there," Twilight said. "And you weren't real."

"Dismissed by the word of a fillies' book, awesome," Sunset growled. "If I read this, is it gonna tell me that I suck as well?"

"Not unless you're the arrogant matriarch of a farming family," Twilight said.

"Good," Sunset said. She started for the door, then paused as she saw Twilight getting ready to continue reading her history. "Oh, come on! You aren't really going to sit in here on a day like this?"

"I thought I might, yes."

"Look, read history if you want, but at least read in the sun. Come on!"

Sunset practically dragged Twilight out of the library and into the shade of an apple tree upon a hill overlooking Ponyville. There were no apples growing, but the tree was blossoming, providing a pink an white canopy between the two ponies and the sunlight as Sunset sat down with her back against the tree trunk. The light dappled upon their coats as Twilight curled up on the grass with her book in front of her. Every so often the tree would weep, sending a blossom petal floating down to land upon Sunset Shimmer with a tickling sensation.

Sunset opened her book to the first page, but didn't start reading it. Instead she leaned back, a slight frown upon her face.

"It isn't really fair, when you think about it," Sunset said. "You got to live and be real in two universes, and apparently, I haven't lived in even one. Some ponies get all the luck. Snips and Snails..."

"Hmm?" Twilight murmured, looking up from her book.

"I bet Snips and Snails miss me a little bit," Sunset averred confidently. "They may not admit it, but they do. I'd bet anything."

"Really?" Twilight asked. "Even after you turned them into demons?"

Sunset shifted a little, the bark of the tree scraping against her back. "I may have screwed up a little bit at the end, but there were more good times than bad."

"You used them shamelessly," Twilight pointed out.

"Everypony is using somepony," Sunset said. "You could say the same about the store-owner using his clerk, the mayor using her assistant, even Princess Celestia using you. The fact is, I gave those two a place to belong, I made them cool by association with me and I took care of them. I always look after what's mine. Whatever's happened to them now, I bet they aren't doing half so well without me." She spoke it as a proud boast, but when she stopped to consider it for a moment the less it seemed cause for pride and more for shame.

They had trusted her. They had put their faith in Sunset Shimmer and followed her every command. They hadn't always been competent about it, but they'd always tried their best to do what she asked of them. And she had repaid them first by twisting their bodies into demonic forms, then by abandoning them to save herself. What was happening to them now? Had they been arrested? Had they been expelled? Or were they just the same dim-witted outcasts they'd been when she recruited them to her side. Did people stare at them and wonder what they were, and she wasn't around any more to speak up for them?

"Wow, I really treated them like dirt, didn't I?" Sunset murmured. "I almost hope that they don't miss me. Hey, Twilight Sparkle, do you think that they're all right?"

"Who?"

"Snips and Snails! The two from the other side of the mirror."

"Yes, I think so," Twilight replied confidently, nodding her head. "My friends on the other side won't hold a grudge. They'll stick up for them."

Sunset made a noncommital sound with the back of her throat. She was of the opinion that Twilight's friends on the other side of the mirror where just another clique like all the other high school cliques, and the fact that they weren't united by a common interest but by something deeper just made them a little more resilient than the cheerleaders or the musicians. They might close ranks to protect one another, but she didn't for a moment believe that they would stick their collective necks out for the likes of Snips or Snails. They hadn't even stuck up for one another against her, for all their talk about being BFFs.

But there was nothing she could do about it now. The portal was closed, and would remain so for the next three years. Even if she did go back after that time, they would be college freshmen by then and would have no need of her help or hindrance. Sunset supposed she would have to trust in a mixture of their survival skills and the kindness of Twilight's human friends.

Who knew, perhaps they would turn into essentially nice but dim kids, like their pony counterparts?

Sunset got up, walked a few steps away from the tree, then lay down on her back staring up at the clear skies above. "It's kinda weird if you think about it, isn't it? Us all having clones in another world."

"Not exactly clones," Twilight replied.

"Copies, or doppelgangers, you know what I mean," Sunset said dismissively. "It makes you think, doesn't it? What does it mean that they're all so like us."

"It means the universe has a limited imagination when it comes to characters," Twilight muttered, nearly beneath her breath.

Sunset laughed. "But, aren't you a little bit curious about how they all ended up so like us? Don't you wonder what the other you is like? I mean, it's a pretty good argument against nurture, isn't it?"

"Not necessarily," Twilight said. "After all, the parallels aren't exact. Snips and Snails are a lot less mean on this side of the mirror. That speaks to the effect of environment."

"That's a small change compared to all the stuff that's the same," Sunset pointed out. "I mean, to have nurture produce two Rarity's who are fashion crazy, two Rainbow Dash's who are athletic and two Pinkie Pie's who are just plain nuts, those are some big coincidences."

"So you think, what, that you can be born a fashionista?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I'm not saying it makes much sense, but that's what the evidence suggests," Sunset sighed, putting her forehooves behind her head. "Makes you wonder if we just can't help how we're made. Makes you wonder if I ever had a chance."

"Makes you wonder if you can excuse all your mistakes by blaming them on how you were born, you mean," Twilight said archly.

"That too." Sunset smirked. "Do you ever wonder what she's like, the other you? Do you ever wonder if she'll meet up with your other friends?"

Twilight looked up. "I sort of hope not, actually. If there is another Twilight Sparkle out there, I want her to have her own life, not be standing in my shadow trying to fill my seat with my friends. What about you? Do you think there's another Sunset Shimmer out there somewhere?"

"I don't see why there wouldn't be, there's more than one of everything else," Sunset said softly. "I hope she's not like me."

Twilight looked puzzled. "Not like you?"

"I don't think you need me to recite my flaws, do you?" Sunset asked. "I hope she hasn't got all of them. It's a lot to hope for, but I hope whoever she is the other Sunset is better than me, and does better. President Sunset Shimmer, has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Only if she really is better than you."

"Hey!"

Twilight put one hoof to her mouth as she giggled. "Honestly, I know you've got problems, better than anypony. But, the other you could do a lot worse than be like you."

Sunset rolled over onto her side, blades of grass sticking to her back and in her mane. "You mean that?"

"I do," Twilight said simply.

A slight smile spread across Sunset's face. "Hey, you know what?"

"What?"

"I've been calling you Twilight this whole time and you haven't said anything about it."

Twilight considered it. "I guess, that's because you've earned it."

Sunset's smile broadened. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Pinkie Pie with a sound of streamers and party-blowers.

"What'cha doing?"

Sunset yelled in surprise as she scrambled away. "Will you stop doing that?"

Pinkie Pie laughed. "What are you doing sitting around out here silly. You're supposed to be back home where everypony's waiting to throw you a party!"

Sunset looked at Twilight, who seemed just as surprised as Sunset felt. "Why is everypony throwing me a party?"

"It's a housewarming party, duh!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"But I've lived here a few weeks now."

"But we weren't your friends back then because we only knew you were the meanie pants who stole Twilight's crown but now we know you're the good guy who rescued Twilight so I forced everypony to...I mean everypony decided that we should throw you a housewarming party because a house that hasn't been housewarmed is just freezing cold, brrrr!"

Sunset mentally ran back through that sentence, inserting commas where appropriate. "Um, that's nice, Pinkie Pie, but I don't really want-"

"Great!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Now come on, there's no time to lose."

Sunset yelped in surprised as Pinkie grabbed Sunset's tail in her mouth and began to drag her off towards her home, while Sunset scrabbled furiously against the ground with her hooves.

"Get off! Pinkie Pie, get off me! Twilight, help!"

"Oh, so it's different when somepony is dragging you someplace, huh?" Twilight said, the expression on her face saying that she was rather enjoying the sight of Sunset's discomfiture.

Pinkie dragged Sunset all the way home, hauling her inside and onto a welcome mat that Sunset was sure hadn't been there before.

Thankfully, everypony turned out to not be the whole of Ponyville, as Sunset had feared, but just Twilight's other friends, lined up under a banner proclaiming 'Happy Housewarming!'. Sunset's table had been colonised by party food, bowls of ice cream and fruit punch and a cake covered in golden marzipan. Some houseplants had been set up discreetly in the corners, adding a bit of colour to the rather beige room.

"I take it she didn't especially want a party," Rarity murmured as Pinkie Pie let go of Sunset to leave her in a heap on her own floor.

"Called it," Rainbow Dash said.

Sunset picked herself up onto her hooves. "You called right." She paused for a moment, then added, "But I do quite like the look of that cake."

Everypony laughed, and began to eat while Pinkie Pie put some music on.

"Did you guys get me these plants?" Sunset asked.

Twilight nodded. "I thought your house looked a bit empty."

"And that's not all," Rainbow Dash added, darting into Sunset's bedroom before reappearing, pushing an arcade game out into the living room in front of her.

Sunset's eyes went wide. "You got me one? You actually got it for me like I asked?"

Twilight just smiled.

Sunset approached the game. It was in impeccable condition, the wooden casing undamaged, the glass clean, the plastic buttons showing little sign of wear and tear. It looked, in fact, like it had been restored extensively. Sunset's eyes were drawn to the label at the top of the game.

"I can't take this apart," Sunset said. "This is _Fighting is Magic_, they only made fifty of these before the developers got sued out of business! How did you get this?"

"Princess Luna gave us one out of her collection," Twilight answered. "Apparently she has three."

"You cannot honestly expect to gut something so rare for it's insides," Sunset said.

Twilight looked at her for a moment. "Actually, no, we don't. This one is to play. There's an old Pac-Mare game in the bedroom for you to rip apart to see how it works."

"Thank goodness for that, for a moment I was worried there," Sunset said.

Rainbow Dash flipped the game on. "So, Sunset, you want to play?"

Sunset raised one eyebrow. "You think you can beat me?"

"You think _you_ can beat _me_?"

"Oh, challenge accepted," Sunset purred in anticipation as she and Rainbow Dash took their places. Rainbow Dash selected the pegasus character Eagle, while Sunset chose the buffalo M. Bison. In no time they were both furiously mashing the buttons while everypony else cheered them.

All told it was, if Sunset had to be honest, the best night she had had since returning to Equestria.


	7. Most Definitely Not a Date

Chapter 7

Most Definitely Not A Date

Sunset Shimmer sat on the floor of her living room, the curtains closed, the floor littered with parts and materials.

In the corner, placed on one of the chairs, sat the video display unit Sunset had succeeded in creating, based on copying the Pac-Mare display and tweaking it a little. Unfortunately, since it had nothing to display at the moment, the screen was just a solid blue at the moment, a constant distraction for Sunset's eyes and a mocking reminder of her limitations.

Because, while she had managed to create something resembling a monitor, creating an actual processor that could carry out the wide variety of functions Sunset wanted was proving more of a challenge.

Sunset growled as she tossed what she had hoped might be a viable motherboard across the room, where it bounced across the wooden floor and into the bedroom.

"Who would have thought that creating a processor capable of several complex functions simultaneously in a short period of time would be so hard?" Sunset asked the air around her. She wasn't even certain she was starting from the right premises. She knew that computers started at ones and zeroes, but she wasn't certain what that meant in real terms, or how to take that forward into anything meaningful. She had considered bolting something together and then zapping it with enough magic that it would either come alive or blow up in her face, but even if that worked it wouldn't really be suitable for production, would it?

Sunset sighed, rubbing her eyes with one hoof. It was starting to get stuffy in here. Her horn glowed as she yanked the curtains open, letting the bright sunlight flood the dark room with such intensity she had to shield her eyes from it.

"Oh, yeah, I definitely need to get out of here for a while," Sunset muttered. "Or else I'm going to go crazy or something." She pushed everything into rough approximation of tidiness before putting on her jacket and heading out the door.

The world outside made her screw her eyes shut at first, it was too bright and warm for somepony who had spent too long stuck inside.

Once she had gotten use to how much colour there was out here in the sun, Sunset began to trot in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. A cup of coffee and something sweet would do wonders for her powers of thought. Hopefully.

She passed Fluttershy, heading the opposite way with what looked like a saddlebag full of vegetables, and the yellow pegasus waved to her with one hoof.

"Good afternoon, Sunset."

Sunset wasn't used to having folks shout hello at her in the middle of the street, but she put something like a smile on her face and waved back. Fluttershy soon went on her way, and Sunset continued upon hers.

"Hey, Sunset Shimmer, glad you're feeling okay!" called a caramel coloured stallion whose name escaped Sunset's memory, though she remembered seeing him around.

"Uh, hi," Sunset replied judiciously, a grimacing smile playing on her lips.

Lyra Hearstrings and her mare-friend stopped to greet her as well, which was weird but at least Sunset remembered who Lyra was, if not why she suddenly wanted to be friends with Sunset Shimmer. She was still pondering the mystery of it when, almost to Sugarcube Corner, a grey pegasus with a golden mane and matching eyes dropped down out of the sky in front of her.

"Hi there, Sunset Shimmer!" she called cheerfully.

"Gah!" Sunset recoiled backwards with a start and a strangled cry, falling onto to her rear end as she did so. "Okay, who are you and how do you know who I am?"

The wall-eyed mare tilted her head to one side. "Are you okay?"

"No, I am not okay," Sunset snapped. "Every perfect stranger in this town seems to know who I am and I don't get it one bit and it's creeping me out so I am definitely not okay. Who are you?"

"I'm Derpy Hooves," Derpy smiled, closing her eyes as she did so. "Nice to meet you."

Sunset growled wordlessly before she managed to speak coherently through clenched teeth. "How do you all know who I am? I've never met any of you! Are you all stalking me or something?"

Derpy retreated a little. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Yes! Yes, you definitely did something wrong, I just don't know what it is yet!" Sunset shouted.

"What is going on here?" Twilight Sparkle asked, appearing out of the bakery. "I can hear you yelling from inside."

"I don't know what's going on! If I knew what was going on I wouldn't be freaking out," Sunset yelled.

Twilight trotted up. "Derpy, would you mind giving us some space. I'm sorry if you're upset."

"That's okay," Derpy said, the smile returning to her face. "We all have our bad days. I hope you feel better soon!" She took off into the air, her last word stretching out until she was out of sight.

"Now," Twilight said. "What's up?"

Sunset began to explain, "When Fluttershy just shouted hello at me in the street I thought that was just who she was. But then everypony started doing it, and I don't even know most of these ponies' names! I've never seen half of them before. It's weird."

Twilight giggled. "Is that all this is?"

"What, you think this is funny?"

"I think it's funny you don't understand yet," Twilight said. "Come on, you were going inside?"

"Yeah."

"Then follow me," Twilight led her inside the cake shop, towards a table in the corner. Sunset had barely sat down when a plump green mare bustled over to them.

"Hello, dear, so glad to see you're up and about again. What can I get you?"

Sunset's eyes were wide, her posture rigid with shock. She opened her mouth to demand just how she knew this pony, when Twilight spoke over her.

"We'll have two chocolate sundaes, thank you, Mrs Cake," she said.

"Of course, dear," Mrs Cake, bustling off to see to their order.

Sunset leaned in to whisper to Twilight. "What is going on here?"

Twilight chuckled. "This is a small town, Sunset. Everypony saw me carry you out of the wastes, unconscious. It's the kind of thing that ponies talk about,"

"So you're telling me everypony has been gossiping about me?" Sunset demanded, cringing at the thought. "That I'm...small town famous?"

"How does it compare with big city anonymity?" Twilight asked with a grin.

"Hey, I was never anonymous," Sunset declared proudly. "Whenever I set out to leave my mark on somepony, it stuck."

"Then why does this bother you?" Twilight asked. "I thought you enjoyed notoriety?"

"I do, but..." Sunset sighed, considering her response. "I like to be known for the things that I set out to be known for. I guess I like to control my image."

Twilight nodded. "I will admit, it took me a while to get used to the way Ponyville worked compared to Canterlot. My first day here, all I wanted to do was find some peace and quiet in the library, but as soon as I went inside I found that every single pony in town was waiting for me to throw me a welcome to Ponyville party."

"Seriously?" Sunset asked, her eyebrows rising. "Your very first day?"

"It was Pinkie's idea."

"Oh, well that explains everything." Sunset shook her head. "I suppose I'll have to get used to this kind of thing."

"If you decide to stay," Twilight said.

Sunset eyed Twilight suspiciously. "I didn't think I had a choice."

Twilight shrugged. "I'm satisfied you're not a megalomaniac bent on world-domination. Not anymore, anyway. I've recommended to Princess Celestia that you be put at liberty."

Sunset's mouth hung open, catching flies until she remembered to close it. She stammered, "Honestly? You, you trust me that much?"

"Are you so surprised?"

"Yeah, kind of," Sunset replied, half laughing. "I mean, when I first came here did _you_ think you'd be letting me go so early?"

"No," Twilight admitted. "You're a better pony than I thought you'd be."

"Or maybe you're a better gaoler than you give yourself credit for," Sunset said.

Twilight didn't rise to the flattery. "So, what are you going to do now? Head for Canterlot?"

Sunset sighed, leaning backwards. "If you'd asked me that when I came through the mirror, I would have said yes in a now...what am I going to do in Canterlot? My own sister doesn't want to know me; it's not as if I had a whole bunch of friends to begin with. I think I'd be lonelier in Canterlot than I am here."

"Really?" Twilight sounded surprised. "I never pictured you as a small town kind of girl, by preference."

"Were you?"

Twilight laughed. "No, I guess I wasn't. If I recall, my exact words were 'all the ponies in this town are crazy!'"

"You were probably right," Sunset said. "It's just that crazy-"

"Isn't always such a bad thing," Twilight finished for her.

"Yeah, something like that," Sunset said, getting up to leave. "Well, um, thanks Princess. I guess I'll see you around." She turned away, and the thought of another evening cooking for one filled her mind, along with the thought that her refridgerator didn't have a lot of room left in it for more leftovers. Another night alone.

Sunset turned round. "Hey, Twilight, do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"

Pinkie Pie gasped, long and loud, rising into the air as her hooves spread out like the legs of a folding chair. As soon as she was done gasping, she sped out of Sugarcube Corner with a commendable turn of speed, leaving only a pink blur in her wake.

Sunset looked around. Everypony in the cafe was staring at her,

"I should have asked you somewhere more private, shouldn't I?"

"Probably," Twilight replied, grinning. "But the answer is yes."

Sunset started to smile before, mindful of everypony staring at her and the ideas that they might get, she cleared her throat loudly. "I mean, I don't mean like a date or anything. This isn't a date. Most definitely not a date."

"Of course not, it's just dinner, between friends."

"Yeah, friends, exactly," Sunset said. She glared at everypony who was watching her. "Did you get all that, too?"

Everypony looked away. Slowly and reluctantly.

"So, do you want me to pick you up?" Sunset asked, at which point all eyes turned on her once again. "Oh for Celestia's sake!"

"I think I can find my way to your door," Twilight said, amusement in her voice. "Say, seven?"

"Sure, it's a date," Sunset said. "Except for how it most definitely isn't."

She strode out of Sugarcube Corner looking incredibly pleased with herself. On the way home she started to whistle.

* * *

Most of the rest of Sunset's afternoon was spent gathering ingredients for the meal she planned to create: tomatoes, onions, spring onions, cornflour, thyme, carrots, peppers, potatoes, plus pastry and a few of what Applejack had proudly declared to be her finest cooking apples for desert.

By the time seven o'clock approached, she had already pureed the tomatoes, onions, spring onions into a sauce, with cornflour added to give it texture and the thyme added with a few other seasonings to get the flavour just right. An apple pie was already in the oven.

Sunset levitated a spoonful of sauce into her mouth, letting the spicy flavours bite at her tongue and sizzle on her throat.

"Yep, once this has been cooked it'll be just fine," Sunset said, nodding to herself.

There was a knock on the door.

Sunset smiled briefly, then padded out of the kitchen to answer it. As she had expected, it was Twilight Sparkle. What Sunset hadn't expected was that Twilight would be wearing a glamorous gown of midnight blue, bodice and dress both sparkling with diamond dust, with a sapphire tiara set in her hair. She looked...stunning. Sunset could barely find any words to say.

When at last she managed to control her tongue, she only managed to point out the obvious. "You're wearing a dress."

Twilight blushed. "Rarity caught me on the way over here. She insisted. If you think it's too much I could always change out of it then put it back on again when I go."

"No, no, I don't think it's too much," Sunset said, shaking her head. "I think it suits you. Um, anyway, why don't you come inside?"

Twilight stepped into the living room, while Sunset shut the door behind her. Twilight at once headed over to the pile of (hopefully) soon-to-be computer parts. "Oh, is this what you've been working on?"

"Yeah, sort of."

"What does it do?"

"Nothing, yet," Sunset admitted. "I haven't quite figured out all the details."

Twilight looked at her. "Maybe I can help you out after dinner."

"Really? You know even less this than me," Sunset pointed out.

"I know," Twilight admitted. "But it couldn't hurt to have two smart ponies taking a look at this, could it?"

Sunset smirked. "I guess not. But after dinner. Right now I need to get back to work."

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Twilight asked.

"Even if there were, I'd say no. You're my guest tonight, remember?" Sunset called as she headed into the kitchen. She picked up a knife with her magic, and began to use it to chop up the remaining vegetables: peppers, carrots and potatoes. She diced them all into slices (more like cubes in the case of the potato) until there was a large pile of mixed vegetables sitting on top of the chopping board, to which Sunset added a few peas because, why not?

Then she put them all in a large flat pan, doused them gently in cooking oil and started to fry them.

"You seem pretty good at this," Twilight observed, coming to stand in the kitchen doorway and watch Sunset work.

"Nah, this is pretty simple really," Sunset said. "Once the vegetables have been fried it's just a matter adding the sauce and then leaving it to cook."

"What are we having?"

"A recipe from the other side of the mirror," Sunset replied. "It's a spicy stew, over there they eat it with meat but we should be able to manage without. You're supposed to have it rice but as we don't have any we'll have to make do. There's probably enough as it is."

"It looks big enough, no wonder you always have a lot of food left over," Twilight said. "Don't you ever eat any of that stuff in your fridge?"

"I find they're not as nice when they're not fresh," Sunset said. "Although, to be honest, it's more that I like cooking. It gives me time to think. It's kind of relaxing."

"When did you learn? In the other world?" Twilight asked.

Sunset laughed. "No. It certainly helped me get by there, but I learnt a while before that, when I was a filly. My mom and dad both had to work late more often than not. And so I'd pick Eclipse up from kindergarten after school and take her home. Whenever we got home, Mom would have left a note telling us what time she thought she and dad would make it back. If they were going to be really late, I'd make dinner for me and my sister and we'd eat together before I put her to bed. Then, when they got home, Mom and Dad would eat the stuff I'd put aside for them, after they heated it up again.

"But, if they weren't going to be too late back for Eclipse, then I'd time the dinner just right so that it was ready as they walked through the door. It got to the point where Eclipse would ask me to start cooking earlier so that our parents would get home quicker." Sunset smiled at the memory.

"It seems like you were pretty close when you were fillies," Twilight said, her voice tinged with regret.

"We had each other more than anypony else, it's no wonder we were close," Sunset said. "Our parents had usually left for work by the time she woke up, but I was always there. I met her after school, sometimes I tucked her in at night. We couldn't help but be close then. It was only later that I ruined it."

"I'm sure you didn't-"

"Yeah, I did," Sunset admitted. "I've always taken care of myself. Sometimes I've taken care of other ponies too. But somewhere along the way it seems like I forgot that there's a difference between being self-reliant and being selfish."

"I think you're remembering now," Twilight said softly.

Sunset said nothing, her attention fixed upon dinner. Eventually she said. "You've got... is it a brother or a sister?"

"A big brother, Shining Armour," Twilight said. "He's in the Crystal Empire, now."

"Oh yeah, you're the baby sister, aren't you," Sunset said, smirking. "I bet you got spoiled rotten, didn't you?"

"No," Twilight said, a little too quickly and too emphatically.

Sunset cackled. "What, it's nothing to be ashamed of. You couldn't help it, after all. I'm just saying, I reckon you were the little princess in your family long before you got a crown and a pair of wings."

Twilight blushed cutely. "Maybe a little."

"Don't be embarassed, it's the way things are," Sunset said, though that didn't stop her from continuing to laugh at Twilight's discomfiture. "The youngest is always special." She sighed. "Or should be, anyway. Sometimes you forget." She blinked rapidly. "Sorry about this, Twilight, the heat is making my eyes water a little."

"I understand," Twilight said, kindly. "I'll be out in the living room if you need me."

She went back out into the living room - Sunset could hear her rustling through books - and left Sunset alone in the kitchen with her thoughts and the smells of gently cooking food.

Soon it was ready. Sunset took the pie out of the oven, put it on the side to cool and dished up the stew, levitating the two plates out into the living room and setting them upon the table. "Here you go."

Twilight eyed it suspiciously. "It looks a little hot."

"It isn't so bad, I've eaten a lot stronger, trust me," Sunset said.

Twilight still looked a little suspicious as she took her seat and levitated a spoonful of the thick red stew, a piece of potato sticking out from amidst the sauce, and stuck it in her mouth. Her eyes bulged a little, but she made a contented sound as she swallowed.

"Spicy," she said. "But rather nice."

Sunset smiled. "Sometimes it's good to have your throat scoured clean, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't go that far." There was silence for a few moments as the two ponies ate. "So what did they do, your parents, if you don't mind me asking? What made them home so late every night?"

"Salesponies," Sunset said. "Selling hats. They weren't exactly huge successes."

"Does that matter?"

"Not per se, I guess, but..." Sunset pondered a moment. "They never had time to enjoy life, you know? Didn't have time to tuck their baby girl to bed, didn't ever have time to stop rushing around. What about your folks?"

"My dad used to be in the Royal Guard, until he hurt his knee," Twilight said. "My mom's a writer."

"Ah, so that's where the bookworm tendencies come from," Sunset replied knowingly. "Is she any good? Did she write anything I might have heard of?"

"She's written some pretty popular stuff," Twilight said. "Have you ever heard of the Peapod and Rough Diamond books?"

Sunset's eyebrows rose. "Your mom wrote them? Yeah, I read a few of them, they were pretty fun. The series stopped, didn't it? They had kids."

Twilight nodded. "Mom and Dad used to travel a lot: Ne'Ari, Gryphonia, it all stopped when they had Shining Armour and me."

"Oh, so it was based on life," Sunset said. "You never thought about doing that yourself? You've got the material: Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra." She grinned. "Me."

Twilight said, "Putting yourself in prestigious company, aren't you?"

"I could be an awesome villain, I've got so much untapped potential for malice," Sunset said. "Come on, you can't deny the premise has potential. A princess, newly crowned and uncertain of her status and position. A jealous rival, her heart consumed with bitterness and envy. A perilous journey to another world, with no guarantee the hero can ever return. Allies and enemies. Demons. Battle and forgiveness. The fate of two worlds on the line. It's got all the ingredients for a hit. Might want to add in some dragons somewhere."

"Dragons," Twilight said flatly.

"Our story could have done with some dragons," Sunset said confidently.

Twilight laughed. "You seem to have given this some thought."

"I've considered turning the other world into a book or two," Sunset said, leaning back in her chair. "After all, practically nopony would know that I hadn't made it up. I could explore the pony condition through humans, or teach life lessons to kids. I could just tell fun adventure stories in a unique fantasy setting."

"With dragons."

"Come on, everypony knows that dragons are awesome."

"I'll be sure to tell Spike that," Twilight remarked.

"You do that," Sunset was silent for a moment. "Thanks for agreeing to come over tonight. It's nice to have somepony to talk to besides the wall."

"The pleasures all mine," Twilight said. "This is very good."

They finished dinner, the discussion straying away from the other world and back to literature in general, before Sunset brought out desert: apple pie with whipped cream. As they ate, Twilight asked, "So, what's the problem with this machine of yours?"

Sunset sighed. "I feel like, once I get the basics working, building up to achieve greater complexity of function will be just a matter of increased power and capacity. But at the moment I can't get off the start line."

"What are you trying to do?"

"Get a processor to work," Sunset said. "I need a way of reducing a diverse variety of information into a common language for storage, which can then be re-extrapolated into its original complex state again at the command of the user."

Twilight frowned. "So the ideal system would be one in which the same processes used to convert the data going in could be applied in reverse to the data coming out."

Sunset shook her head. "I thought that, too, but it seems impossible. I mean, once you've reduced the data to a common language, how are you even going to know what language to convert it back into. But that's irrelevant since I still don't know how to convert it in the first place."

Twilight's eyes lit up with excitement. "Boolean logic!"

"Huh?"

"By interposing a series of boolean logic gateways between programme and storage, all data inputs would have to pass through a sequence of nand or nor gates."

"And as they passed through each gate they would be refined into increasingly simple forms of boolean algebra," Sunset continued, catching on to Twilight's train of thought. "Which can then be converted into binary at the point of storage. That's the common language between the various different programmes! That's how we store a diverse variety of information in one place: by refining it until it isn't diverse at all at point of storage."

"Yes, exactly," Twilight said excitedly. "But, that still doesn't solve the output problem."

"No, but it does, don't you see?" Sunset said. "Like you said: reversing. Two conduits, one for inputs and one for outputs. The first gate for inputs converts the input programme into boolean algebra. The arrangement of output gates is a reversed mirror of the input gates."

"So that the first output gate will read the programme that was used in the input, of course," Twilight said. "Do you want to give it a try?"

"Of course," Sunset yelled. "Let's get to it."

They worked all night. Finishing off the apple pie as they crafted circuits and logic gates, slotted homemade chips into an improvised motherboard, crafted twin highways of information. The result was an ugly mess, ungainly and a little haphazard, but so long as it worked nopony would care how it looked, Sunset Shimmer least of all.

"Ready to test it?" Twilight asked.

"Yep," Sunset swallowed, hoped, hooked it up to the monitor and then powered it with a burst of magic into the homemade battery.

There was a whirring sound, followed by some beeping in quick succession, then the blue screen of the monitor turned black as green letters appeared upon it.

SSTS-01 ACTIVATING

LOADING...

SEARCHING FOR INPUTS...

NO INPUTS DETECTED

WOULD YOU LIKE TO PROCEED? Y/N

A squeal of pure joy escape from Sunset's throat as she started bouncing up and down like a filly on Hearth's Warming. "It works! It actually works! This is absolutely brilliant!" She hugged Twilight tightly around the neck. "Thanks, Princess, I never could have done it without you."

Twilight beamed. "We make a pretty good team, don't we?"

"Are you kidding?" Sunset asked. "We make an excellent team."


	8. A Mountain of Affection

Chapter 8

A Mountain of Affection

WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A GAME? (Y/N)

Sunset glanced at Twilight. "I guess now we'll see if our programming skills are any good, won't we?"

Twilight held out one hoof, and pressed down on the keyboard.

Y

PLEASE SELECT THE GAME YOU WISH TO PLAY

Sunset took over the typing, her hooves flying over the keys.

GLOBAL THERMONUCLEAR WAR

ERR: "GLOBAL THERMONUCLEAR WAR" NOT FOUND. PLEASE RE-ENTER THE NAME OF A VALID PROGRAMME

"Global Thermonuclear War?" Twilight asked, looking askance at Sunset. "What's that?"

"A pop culture reference," Sunset replied briskly. "I was just messing around. Now for one we did actually programme in."

CHESS

ACCESSING

LOADING

HOW MANY PLAYERS? (1/2)

Twilight pressed the 1 key, since the whole point of this test was to see how well the programme they had designed performed against a pony opponent.

With a few bleeps and bloops the screen transitioned into the image of a red and black chessboard as seen from a forty-five degree angle. A few more bleeping noises and pieces appeared upon the board. The computer played white, because one of the things that Sunset remembered about computer's in the other world was they always gamed the system (or, to put it more simply, cheated like crazy) and she had wanted to recreate that as far as possible.

The computer opened with it's king pawn. The selection of the piece was accompanied by a heavy _boww_ sound, while the actual movement of the pawn occassioned a _beep-boop_.

"We might want to disable the noises, I can see that getting annoying after a while," Sunset remarked.

"Maybe, but I think it's important that ponies have some way of knowing that something has happened," Twilight said. "Some of them might have trouble seeing the screen."

Sunset made a noise of non-committal. They weren't yet able to get the resolution or the colour pallette of the arcade game she'd patterned the VDU after, which meant that everything was cast in dark and muted colours. That was why the squares on the board were black and red, and the 'white' pieces actually a deep crimson: the colour white was beyond the system's capabilities at the moment.

It was their turn, so Sunset began to type. The interface was a little cumbersome at the moment, and consisted of typing in the square on which sat the piece you wanted to move, then typing in the square you wanted to move that piece too. Sunset opened with her own king pawn, moving it too spaces forward.

"Move the princess," Twilight urged.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because 'If the princess does not lead, why should anypony follow her' is not a valid strategy," Sunset snapped as the computer move it's princess knight. "I'm setting up a Macedonian Defence, it always confuses rookie players." She began to arrange her pawns in a series of arrows pointing forwards, with each pawn diagonally behind the one in front. If any of her pawns were taken, then the taking piece would itself be taken by one of the pawns behind. The only weakpoints were at the back of the arrow, with the pawns she hadn't moved from their starting positions, but they were covered by her wizards.

Twilight shook her head. "Setting up your pawns to get taken in the hope you can take some enemy pieces? That's a mistake."

"Why?"

"Because you'll just end up trading pawns for pawns and you won't get any further ahead than you are now," Twilight said loudly. "Here, let me take over."

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Because I know what I'm doing!"

"What you're doing is about to lose the game."

"I am not, just wait and see..."

Together they managed to bicker their way to a total rout, their strategy changing as often as every turn depending on which one of them had their hooves on the keyboard.

CHECKMATE. YOU LOSE.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY AGAIN (Y/N)

Sunset glowered at the computer. "Did you programme it to be this smug or was that me?"

Twilight raised one eyebrow sceptically, as if she coudn't believe Sunset was asking.

"Yeah, it does seem more like me, doesn't it?" Sunset muttered.

"Well, on the bright side, we've established that our programme can beat two players who can't agree on how to play," Twilight offered.

"Right, that's what's really important here: the programme works," Sunset declared. "Winning doesn't matter. Losing just sucks, is all." She pressed the N key, returning the computer to the starting menu. "We'll have to find a way to make it easier to select what you want than having to cycle through a list of Yes or No questions until it asks you if you want to do what you want to do." It wasn't a huge deal at the moment, because after a couple of days the only programmes they had were a clutch of simple games, a word processor and - their most complex programme yet, and still only half-finished - a teaching programme which Sunset had called _Twilight Sparkle: Teacher for a Day_ when Twilight wasn't looking. Twilight had retaliated by programming it so that if your test scores were sufficiently low you got a graphic of Sunset being laughed at by all the kids in magic kindergarten.

"I'm sure we'll come up with something eventually," Twilight looked at the clock on the wall. "But I have to go now, I'm meeting my friends for lunch."

"Oh. Okay," Sunset felt a twinge of jealousy at the thought of Twilight leaving and briefly wondered where that had come from before forcefully shoving it aside. "Well, have fun. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure. I mean, you could come with me if you wanted. I'm sure everypony would be happy to see you," Twilight said, smiling invitingly.

Sunset felt temptation springing from the same source as her previous jealousy, but mastered it in turn before she said, "Nah, I'll just get in the way. You go, and have a good time."

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "I didn't think you had any other plans."

"I'll be fine," Sunset said, more sharply than she had intended. She softened her tone. "I'll be fine, really. Have fun with your friends. I'll see you around."

"Okay then," Twilight said, a bright smile lighting up her face. "See you later, Sunset." She turned and walked out the door, closing it gently behind her.

Sunset was left alone in the living room, scowling at nothing. What was the matter with her? She'd used to like being alone, now she was becoming this pathetic blob who couldn't stand it when Twilight Sparkle left? She had more self-respect than that - more self-reliance.

"I can get by on my own," Sunset declared to the empty air. "I don't need Twilight, or anyone."

She thought about continuing her work, but she kind of did need Twilight for that so that was out. And then there was...

Sunset looked around. There really wasn't very much to do. Sunset harrumphed in annoyance.

"I really need a job or something."

* * *

Everypony else had already arrived at the picnic spot; the blanket spread out upon the grass and the hamper unpacked onto the blanket.

"Ooh, it looks delicious," Pinkie said. "Can we start yet?"

"It wouldn't be very polite to start without Twilight," said Fluttershy. "I'm sure she'll be here soon."

"I wonder where she is, anyway?" Rainbow Dash wondered.

"Oh, she's probably with Sunset," Rarity replied airily. "It must be a terrible wrench for her to tear herself away."

"Why's that?" Rainbow asked.

Rarity looked shocked that she would need to ask. "Why isn't it obvious, darling? Can't you see there's something between them?"

Rainbow blinked, hovering up into the air to hang a few feet above the ground, her forehooves crossed. "No. They're just friends."

"Oh really?" Rarity said, her tone indicating she didn't believe that. "What about all the time they spend together?"

"Ain't they just working on some fancy doodad?" Applejack said. "It ain't like they go for a romantic walk every day."

"Perhaps not, but they do spend an awful lot of time together."

"Twilight spends an awful lot of time with all of us, it doesn't mean that there's anything going on," Rainbow insisted. "If you asked Twilight she wouldn't have a clue what you were talking about."

"Well, of course not dear, I never said that it was conscious on their part. But from the outside it's plain to see that there is something between them. Haven't you noticed how tempestuous they were, how close they are now? There's more than friendship there, or the potential to be. And, as Twilight's friends, it's our duty to bring that potential out and make it flower."

Silence greeted this pronouncement. "Uh, come again?" Applejack said.

Rarity giggled, clapping her hooves together eagerly. "We shall bring Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer into a mountain of affection."

"Um, Rarity, are you so sure that's a good idea," Fluttershy said, making it clear by her tone that she did not.

"Yeah, I mean, it isn't like it's any of our business who Twilight likes," Rainbow sounded incredibly sceptical.

"Well I think it's a brilliant idea," Pinkie Pie yelled, bouncing up and down. "Playing fixer-upper is so much fun, I can't wait to do it again."

"Again?" Rainbow said. "When have you done this before?"

Pinkie chuckled. "I knew a mare once whose husband was being very inattentive to her. She was really sad because he just wasn't giving her the thoughtful affection he used to. But with my help, she came up with a plan. She hired a stallion to make her husband jealous, flirting with her and kissing her, all where her husband could see them. It worked, and so, the mare knew that he really did love her after all. That's when she told him the whole story: how she'd only done it to make him realise that he'd been neglecting her. And the husband was so happy when he found out he was jealous that he gave the other fellow a lot of money for making him jealous. Then he took his wife in his hooves, and kissed her, then they went out and got married all over again."

"Uh huh," Applejack murmured sceptically. "And when exactly did all this happen?"

"This was when I was living in Manehattan's Upper East side selling greetings cards," Pinkie replied happily.

"You never...you made that whole thing up, didn't you?" Rainbow demanded.

"You can't say for su-ure,"said Pinkie in a sing-song voice.

"True or not, I think it's a wonderful idea, Pinkie Pie," Rarity declared. "If we make them jealous, Twilight and Sunset will have to realise the extent of their feelings for one another."

"Ah don't know, Rarity," Applejack said. "This sounds mighty like the time Apple Bloom and her friends tried to set up Big Macintosh with Miss Cheerilee. That didn't end too well."

"I'm hardly suggesting that we drug the pair of them," Rarity said. "I simply want to help their relationship along as best we can."

"I'm not kissing Twilight, or Sunset," Rainbow said quickly.

"Obviously we wouldn't do any of that ourselves," Rarity explained patiently. "No, what we do is - oh, Twilight, dear!"

Twilight trotted through the meadow to join them, sitting down at once corner of the picnic blanket. "Sorry I'm late, you guys. I didn't leave Sunset's early enough."

"Oh, that's quite all right, darling." Rarity's expression was triumphant. "How are things between you two?"

"Fine, really. The work is going about as well as it could, I think," Twilight frowned. "It's really weird though. Sunset got pretty snippy when I told her I was leaving. I asked her if she wanted to come, but she didn't. I don't get it."

Rarity chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure you'll figure out eventually."

As they all began to eat, Applejack said, "So, Twi, explain again what it is you two are building in that house of hers?"

"It's called a computer," Twilight said. "They have them in the other world, beyond the mirror. They're...machines that think."

Applejack's eyebrows rose. "No offence, but that don't sound too good. I don't reckon I'd like the plough telling me I wasn't working it right, or that it didn't want to work today."

"They don't _think_ think," Twilight explained. "Their logic only follows pre-designed pathways, pathways created by their makers, but within those pathways they can operate at speed far in excess of a pony mind, and carrying out many more calculations at once. At its most basic, a computer is a way of doing a lot of sums very quickly, but then you use those sums to...drive the engine of creation."

"Sounds kind of nerdy, if you ask me," Rainbow remarked.

"Oh, it is definitely that," Twilight said with a laugh. "But if you're into that sort of thing its a lot of fun, building a whole world out of equations. I admit I was a bit sceptical at first about the idea, but I think that at the level Sunset and I are at now, we can enjoy the benefits while keeping the harmful and unhelpful stuff at bay. I just wish that it was as easy to understand Sunset as it is to understand the math."

Rarity chuckled again.

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"You do not want to go there," Rainbow Dash said.

The rest of the picnic passed pleasantly, but without incident. It was only as they the six ponies were packing up that Spike appeared, running furiously across the grass waving a letter over his head. He was panting furiously by the time he reached them, bending double and leaning on his knees.

"You...need...to...read...this...now," Spike gasped.

Twilight took the letter within the grasp of her magic, levitating it over to her and opening it.

_My dearest Twilight,_

_I am afraid I have been very remiss. I should almost certainly have discussed this with you earlier, but I was not sure how to brooch the subject and, hoping that this discussion would not be necessary, I allowed the matter to lie. _

_Unfortunately, my fears have come to pass._

_You are a princess now, Twilight, and this has made you a public figure both in Equestria and abroad. It has also, with Cadance happily wed to Shining Armour, made you the most eligible mare in Equestria. Anypony who could win your hoof in marriage would achieve an extraordinary coup in status terms alone. I am not the only pony who has noticed this, and there are reports of suitors on thier way from Gryphonia, Zebrica and Cervidas. However, none of them will be here for some time, and while they make their way to you, Prince Blueblood has announced his intention to travel to Ponyville and woo you before anypony else can. He seems to rate his chances of success more highly than I do._

_I wish to make this clear, Twilight: I have no intention of forcing you to marry against your will. Crown or no, you are a wonderful young mare and I would see you happy with somepony who sees more of you than your royal title. However, I do ask that you make no rash judgements: recieve these suitors courteously, evaluate them upon thier merits and then reject them politely and without malice. _

_Blueblood will arrive tomorrow at noon, his departure being delayed by his insistence on borrowing the railway director's personal carriage and a having a special train prepared for his journey. I hope this gives you enough warning._

_Your devoted friend,_

_Princess Celestia. _

Twilight put down the letter on the ground. Her eyes were wide, her whole body trembled. Her coat had paled a little.

"What's the matter, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "You look as though you've heard a banshee calling."

"Princess Celestia says that, now that I'm a princess, everypony wants to marry me!" Twilight cried. "There are griffons and zebras and deer coming to...to _court_ me!"

Everypony gasped.

"And Prince Blueblood arrives tomorrow for the exact same reason!" Twilight yelled.

Everypony gasped again, except for Rarity who made a noise of deep disgust as if a spider had just started crawling up her leg.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do," Twilight said, her voice rising with panic as her words flew faster and faster out of her mouth. "I might have to move to Canterlot. I might have to move to Zebrica! I might-"

"Calm down, Twilight," Applejack urged, twisting her head a little to read the discarded letter for herself. "Princess Celestia says you don't have to do anything you don't want to, except be nice to 'em."

"Then there's nothing to worry about," Rainbow said. "Just tell them you're not interested and send them packing."

"But what if they won't take no for an answer?" Twilight asked.

"Then I'll send them packing," Rainbow proclaimed confidently. "Relax, Twilight, you're getting worked up about nothing."

"Except that the really mean and stuck up prince is still coming to Ponyville tomorrow! That might be something to get worked up about." Pinkie said excitedly

"Pinkie!"

"What?"

"No, Pinkie's right, I do have to prepare for Blueblood's arrival," Twilight said. "Princess Celestia said to be nice to him, after all. Unfortunately." She sighed. "I suppose I ought to dress up for him. Rarity, I don't suppose you have anything suitable for me to wear?"

"At this short notice?" Rarity smiled. "I'm sure I'll manage darling, an artiste always does. But do you want something to attract him or repulse him?"

Twilight laughed.

"That's the spirit, partner, you'll get through this," Applejack said.

"We won't let anypony take you away," Fluttershy added. "Um, unless you want them too."

"Which you really might once you meet some of them," Pinkie declared. "I remember this one time, when I was living in Vanhoover selling balloons-"

"Okay, I am certain you never lived in Vanhoover, Pinkie," Rainbow said.

"Maybe not, but I could have."

* * *

Sunset slammed, no, no, _laid her forehooves forcefully_ down onto the table. She did not slam them down. Just like she didn't yell, she just...raised her voice and adopted a forceful tone to say, "You're getting married? To Prince Blueblood?"

Twilight's tone, by contrast, was one of patience. "No. I told you, Blueblood is coming to ask me to marry him."

"Don't play semantics with me."

"I'm not playing anything, I'm telling you the truth," Twilight insisted.

Sunset, who had been staring down at her hooves, looked up at Twilight. "People do not just turn up at the doors of other people and say 'Hey, wanna get married?' You date, you go out, maybe move in together, then you pop the question. Nopony just proposed out of thin air."

"Apparently they do when you're a princess," Twilight said wearily. "Just like they apparently ask despite having no idea whether you'll say yes or not, or even having any reason to expect you will say yes."

"Oh, well that's just awesome," Sunset snapped. "I mean it makes no sense but, you know, whatever."

"Are you accusing me of lying to you?" Twilight demanded. "Because if you are then I'd rather you just came right out and said it!"

"You really expect me to believe that you're going to refuse?" Sunset said. "Prince Blueblood and everypony else. The four corners of the world are beating a path to your door and you're going to send them all away empty hoofed? Come on, don't treat me like an idiot."

"I don't need to, you're doing a pretty good job of acting like an idiot all by yourself," Twilight replied. "You honestly think that I want this? That I enjoy being...what was that woman's name, from the other world, that play...what was it, what was it...Helen, that's it, Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships-"

"And burnt the topless towers of Ilium, yes, I took the same class, for longer," Sunset snapped. "You must be very proud to see your stock rise so high in the world."

Twilight gasped. "You honestly...I thought you understood me better than that! Do you really think that this the kind of person that I want to be? Somepony's trophy wife, a puppet, valued only as a possession like...like art! In fact I'm even worse off than that because none of these presumptive jerks are even looking at my face! All they see is a crown."

Sunset gritted her teeth. All she could feel inside was a swirling, tempestuous mass of envy, fear and anger. Envy of all those noble ponies and foreign dignitaries who would soon be flocking around Twilight, filling her social circle, leaving no room for a forlorn former villain playing with circuits in a one-storey house. Fear that Twilight would leave, anger that she would lie to her like this, act like this wasn't something she wanted.

Because after all, who wouldn't want this much attention, to be the centre of the greatest drama in the land?

Who wouldn't want to leave a mare like Sunset Shimmer behind?

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you just hate this," she growled. "You know, I appreciate honesty, too. Come on, you really expect me to buy that this is a trial for you? That you aren't itching to blow this town? To blow _me_?"

"You're not the only pony who lives here you know, my _friends_ live here," Twilight shouted. "I don't get it, why are _you_ getting upset about this? What do you have to be mad about in this situation?"

"I," Sunset stopped, her jaw tightening. She knew what she felt, but she could not find the words to say it. The words that did come to mind were not strong enough to force their way past her pride. "You know what, you should go. I'm sure you have to get ready for your date. Go, and...just go."

Twilight shook her head. "I really don't get you," she murmured. And then she left. It was too her credit that she didn't slam the door on her way out.

"You don't get me?" Sunset murmured. "You're not the only one." She looked around at the walls of her living room, walls which now seemed small and close, a tightening space, suffocating Sunset. She roared with anger, kicking the table with her hind leg. "Aargh!"

* * *

As his train puffed into Ponyville, His Royal Highness Prince Blueblood polished off the last of an excellent lunch in the director's personal carriage and dabbed delicately at his mouth with a lemon-scented napkin.

"Ah, yes, the world is about to change for me, I can feel it," he declared. "Nopony will dismiss me as irrelevant once I marry the newest princess in Equestria. I shall be an important, neigh, crucial figure in the affairs of Equestria. Not to mention, Auntie might finally stop asking me what I plan to do with my life."

"Quite so, Your Highness," said Buttoned Up, one of the small entourage of flunkies the prince had brought with him to render him fit to meet his bride. He was a brown coated unicorn, and his cutie mark was a sponge. "But there will be losses to be endured: you shall no longer be in consideration for _City Life_'s Most Eligible Bachelor award."

"Indeed, Button, I'm well aware that I shall be required to make sacrifices upon the altar of married life," Blueblood murmured. "It will be a sore trial, but I daresay, I shall manage." After all, he had only been ranked second most eligible bachelor last year. And he would still have his other awards to console him. "And with a wife upon my hoof, this wife in particular, I shall be feted in a whole new way."

"Quite so, Highness, but first you must win the lady," Buttoned Up reminded him. "Have you given thought to what you will say?"

"I shall say little, and let my unmatched good looks do the talking," Blueblood said.

"A sagacious decision, my prince. And...if you should encounter That Mare?"

Blueblood's face spasmed with distaste at the thought of having to deal with That Mare. He cleared his throat. "I shall explain, delicately of course, that she was tipsy and offensive that evening, forcing her attentions on me, and it was only due to my impeccable manners that I neither humiliated her in public nor took advantage of the situation."

"An unimpeachable tale, Your Highness. I fear we have very, nearly arrived."

Blueblood stamped his hoof and his attendants lined up ready to attend to his final needs: a last dab of manespray in his luxuriant mane, a touch of scent upon his neck, one last gulp of mouthwash - and spit - a breath-freshening mint.

He was dressed in his second best suit - he didn't want to ruin the best by dragging out to this provincial place, once they were married Twilight Sparkle would be staying in Canterlot with him - with a freshly cut rose in his buttonhole. Blueblood examined himself in the mirror, satisfied he looked every inch the dashing, handsome prince. Indeed, what mare in Equestria could resist him? Would not the mere sight of him sweep this bookish and unworldly country mouse off her hooves?

"Once I have wed the princess, I shall be raised to a new state of position, prestige and glory," he proclaimed. "And I promise, you will all share in my good fortune."

"But of course, Your Highness." Buttoned Up smiled. "To share is why we serve."

* * *

Rarity frowned. She tilted her head, putting one hoof to her lips. "I never thought I would say this, but I've rather worried that I've done my work too well."

Twilight and her friends waited on the platform of Ponyville station for Prince Blueblood's train. For the occassion, Rarity had designed a gown of shimmering silver, with a white bustle lying over the skirt. The puffed sleeves, which rose up almost to Twilight's chin, were also white. The design was simple - there had been time for Rarity to add a great many adornments or frills to the gown - but elegant, and both bodice and skirt were covered all over with miniature diamonds, making the whole affair sparkle like starlight. Twilight's crown sat perched upon her head.

"You do look rather wonderful," Fluttershy murmured.

"Yeah, Rarity, we don't want him to actually _want_ to marry Twilight," Rainbow snapped.

"I know that, I know better than anypony what _he_ is, if you'll recall," Rarity responded. "I'm terribly sorry, darling, once I start to work I'm afraid I'm incapable of doing less than my best."

"It's okay, Rarity," Twilight said reassuringly. "If he hasn't been put off by the fact that he doesn't even know me, I doubt that anything about my appearance could dissuade him."

"It's not too late for me to have an accident with a cloud, dump some water on you, Twilight," Rainbow offered. "Or I could have the accident and drop a loud of water on him."

Twilight chuckled. "As fun to watch as that would be, Princess Celestia did ask me to be polite."

The train whistled as it rounded the corner and began to pull into the station.

Twilight took a deep breath. "And now, I think you should all go. I don't want to seem like I need a half-dozen escorts to protect me."

"Are you sure?" Applejack. "You could say we were your...what did mah aunt Orange call it...chaperones."

"I'll be fine, honestly. I'm calmed down now, and I've no intention of going anywhere." Twilight smiled reassuringly. "I'll come and find you when it's over."

"If you say so, sugarcube," Applejack said, and she led the others away into town somewhere.

Twilight watched the train approach, and did the calming excercise that Cadence had taught her. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad. Perhaps Rarity would turn out to have been exaggerating. Perhaps he would take rejection well.

Oh, who was she kidding, this was going to be an endurance test of gruelling proportions.

The train came to a stop, the carriage resting so that it's door was directly opposite Twilight. The car door slid open and Prince Blueblood emerged, sparkling in his good looks.

"Well met, my love," he said, in a tone that was probably supposed to be suave but which sounded oily to Twilight's ears. "How now?"

"How now in love when we've just met?" Twilight replied.

Blueblood froze, apparently unsure of how to respond. He said nothing, flashing her a smile instead.

Twilight didn't react.

Blueblood seemed to hesitate, before his smile broadened further and he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Twilight still didn't react.

A drop of sweat rolled down Blueblood's face. He flicked his mane back, his horn glowing slightly as the amount of sparkle hovering around him seem to quadruple and the movement of his mane appeared to enter slow motion.

Twilight gave him a look that suggested she couldn't quite believe he was serious. "Are you okay?"

Blueblood looked momentarily crestfallen, but rallied to proclaim, "I'm better than fine, now that I'm with you, darling."

Twilight laughed nervously. "Well, okay then. That's good to hear. Um, uh, so, do you want to go somewhere."

"Indeed. Let us take a promenade around this quaint little town. It'll be an opportunity for you to say goodbye."

There was nothing that Twilight could have said in reply to that that wouldn't have involved yelling, so she took another deep calming breath, made no reply, and allowed Prince Blueblood to lead the way.

* * *

Sunset Shimmer was not spying on Twilight. Absolutely not. The very idea was unthinkable. She had just happened to be standing around in a position to observe, and as she took a stroll around Ponyville she happened to continuously be in a position to observe. Casually. Disinterestedly. She just glanced over now and then to make sure Twilight was okay. Sunset was doing her a favour really, that prince looked like a real slimeball.

As for why she was crouched out of sight, peeking unobtrusively around the corner...she was just staying in the shade, that's all.

"Hiya, Sunset! What'cha doing?"

Sunset gave a strangled cry and nearly leapt out of her concealment. Pinkie Pie stood right behind her, an eager smile on her face. Behind her stood the rest of Twilight's friends, looking a bit more shamefaced.

Sunset coughed with embarassment. "Well, um, I was, uh, you see-"

"Are you watching Twilight?" Pinkie asked.

Sunset's ears burned as she bowed her head and admitted, "Yes."

"What a coincidence! That's what we're doing too!" Pinkie yelled happily. "Now we can all do it together!"

"Quiet, Pinkie," Rarity hissed. "Or they'll hear us."

"Oh, right. Shhh!"

They all poked their heads around the wall, the ground-bound ponies jostling for space while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy hovered above the rest. They saw Twilight and Blueblood walking down the main street, ponies stopping to stare at them as they went by.

"I was thinking that fame could be the theme for our wedding," Blueblood drawled. "Gold and platinum would be the primary colours, gold trim on the wedding dress, platinum decorations, golden flowers. And of course, our guest would reflect the theme as well: only the most well-known and stylish members of Canterlot society would be invited, very exclusive. I have contacts in the music industry that could get us the very best performers for the reception, and I know the owners of some excellent restaurants who would be happy to cater. Truly, it will be the social event of the season. The paparazzi will have a field day and anypony who is not invited will be in despair. Doesn't that sound marvellous?"

"Their wedding?" Sunset hissed. "Did he ask her while I wasn't listening?"

"I don't see an engagement ring on her horn," Rarity murmured. "But then, that would be sadly typical of him."

"Our wedding?" Twilight asked. "You haven't even asked me to marry you yet."

"He hasn't even asked her?" Sunset said. "What a tool!"

"I do detest that stallion," Rarity remarked sadly.

Blueblood looked affronted. "Isn't it obvious? Why else would I come out to this crude, provincial backwater except to take your hoof in marriage?"

"I hate that guy," Applejack snorted.

"That doesn't mean you can just take it for granted," Twilight replied, raising her voice a little. "That's like buying a lot of Hearth's Warming presents and then saying that means you don't have to give them out."

Blueblood frowned. "Do you want me to give you a present, my dear?"

"No, I don't want you to buy me a present, I want you to not take me for granted," Twilight shouted. "And my name is Twilight Sparkle!"

Blueblood cringed before her, adopting a wounded tone. "Please, Twilight Sparkle, if I've offended you I'm so sorry. Surely you can see the advantages a marriage between us would bring?" He recovered his usual self-assurance. "I am, after all, one of the most famous stallions in Canterlot. _City Life_'s Most Eligible Bachelor three years running, declared Equestria's Most Stylish Stallion by _Mode_ magazine five years running. For six years running I was voted winner of the Most Charming Smile award by the readers of _Mare's Weekly_. And, of course, you are not without a few accomplishments of your own."

Rarity gasped. "Why, the nerve of him! To talk to Twilight Sparkle in that way!"

"A marriage would allow us to combinue our glamour and share our glories," Blueblood went on.

"Hmm, Twilight gets to be associated with a guy whose won a few awards in glossy magazines, you get to be associated with a hero who saved Equestria and defeated me," Sunset said. "Yeah, Twilight's really lucking out with this deal."

"And of course, through me you would gain entry into the very highest tiers of Canterlot society," Blueblood went on.

"She's already got that, you pompous ass," Sunset spat. "She's Princess Celestia's favourite, you can't get higher than that."

"And be able to associate yourself with the very best people," Blueblood finally finished his sales pitch.

Twilight's posture was regal and her tone was prim as she replied, "Personally, I am of the opinion that the very best people in all of Equestria are to be found here."

"Yeah, you tell him, Twilight," Rainbow said. "I hate that guy."

Blueblood laughed. "You only say that because you don't understand what you're saying. One week in Canterlot will cure you of all such delusions."

"Trust me, I understand exactly what I'm saying," Twilight said. She sighed. "Could we please talk about something else. Something besides you?"

Blueblood hesitated. "I'm having trouble thinking..."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Perhaps you should consider moving here. It might do you good to get away from Canterlot and everypony fawning on you."

"Oh, now you sound like Aunt Celestia," Blueblood groused. "You simply don't understand that if one isn't the centre of attention then life simply isn't worth living."

"I can't stand any more of this," Rarity declared. "Girls, I'm going in!"

"Wait, Rarity!" Applejack hissed, but it was too late. Rarity strode out of cover and marched brazenly up to the couple.

"Twilight! Fancy running into you like this," Rarity said with false cheer. "Oh, do forgive me, I had no idea you were with a- why, Prince Blueblood, I had no idea you were in Ponyville."

Blueblood's eyes were wide with fright, he had gone stiff as a board.

Rarity's smile was wicked. "You must remember me, Your Highness, we met at the Grand Galloping Gala, if you recall. You left quite an impression on me."

Blueblood cleared his throat. "As did you, madam."

"Oh, really?"

Blueblood smiled slyly. "Indeed. When we met you had clearly been partying hard already, swaying on your hooves and slurring your speech. You threw yourself upon me in a manner most undignified, embarassed yourself completely by your conduct and forced your attentions on me. It was only the fact that I am a perfect gentlecolt that prevented me taking advantage of the situation."

Rarity gasped with a mixture of shock and fury. "Well I never! Of all the barefaced lies I have ever heard that is by far the most audacious! You know perfectly well what happened that night!"

"And so do I," Twilight declared. "And I am afraid I could never marry a stallion who was dishonest on top of being self-absorbed and snobbish. I am sorry, Prince Blueblood, but I am afraid you have wasted your journey here. I have no intention of accepting the proposal you did not make."

"What?" Blueblood shrieked, stamping his hoof on the ground like a petulant child. "No! No, this is wrong, this is not how it's supposed to go. I am the prince, the prince! I'm the darling of Canterlot, the most eligible bachelor, everypony is supposed to look at me! Every mare should want to be my wife! Everypony should care what I think! But now there's Princess Cadence, and now you! Do you know that I was only ranked second most eligible bachelor this year? Do you know why? Because _City Life_ said that 'as princesses proliferate, Celestia's distant cousin Prince Blueblood becomes an increasingly irrelevant and lightweight figure."

"But you can make them love me again, respect me again. Please, I need to be loved, I deserve to be loved!"

"Perhaps you do," Twilight replied, not without some sympathy. "But I do not love you."

* * *

That evening, in the library, Twilight changed out of her gown and breathed a deep sigh of relief. Prince Blueblood had returned to Canterlot. Unfortunately, all that meant for Twilight was that her trials were only just beginning. Zebras, griffons, more ponies too she had no doubt. She sat down at her desk, levitated up a quill, and began to write a letter to her sister-in-law. Hopefully Cadence would have some advice for her on how to deal with this situation.

There was a knock on the door. Twilight set her quill down, wondering who it was. She walked down stairs and opened the door, to find a shamefaced looking Sunset Shimmer standing outside.

"Can I come in?" Sunset asked meekly.

Twilight scowled, but nodded. "Sure." She turned away, walking over to the table, before fixing Sunset with a stern glare.

Sunset closed the door and stood silent for a moment, kicking her hooves on the floor. "I wanted to apologise... for this morning."

"I see."

"I shouldn't have acted like I did."

"No," Twilight agreed, coolly. "You shouldn't have."

Sunset closed her eyes and hung her head, her lips moving soundless for a moment before she looked up and said, "I don't always know how to...I don't like...Sometimes I can't...I don't know how to say what I'm feeling all the time. I don't like to say what I'm feeling always. Sometimes, I think it would be easier not feeling at all."

"Don't say that," Twilight said emphatically. "Don't ever. That way lies...you'd be a monster."

Sunset chuckled. "Been there, done that already." She was silent for a moment. "The point is, I didn't express myself very well this morning. I was angry and afraid and I took that out on you and it was wrong and I shouldn't have done it but...I thought that you were leaving me. And I didn't want that, because I...really like...hanging out...with you. I mean, who else is going to put up with me, right? I'm selfish and self-centred and I'm not that different from Prince Blueblood really, but you don't seem to care about any of that. I don't...I can't...without you, I...I don't want you to go because..." Sunset glared at Twilight angrily. "Do you have any idea how hard this is for me? Throw me a bone, I'm dying out here!"

Twilight smiled. "Okay then, first of all: your apology is accepted. Second: you needn't worry, I don't plan on leaving here with any of these suitors. And third: you are nothing like Prince Blueblood. So don't worry about that either. Now, the girls and I are going out to dinner, do you want to join us?"

"Are you sure?" Sunset asked. "They won't mind?"

"Of course not, it'll be fine," Twilight said. "But only if you want to."

"Okay, great," Sunset said. "Let's go."

Twilight grinned. "One more thing before we go, and I'm going to tell the girls this too: I know you meant well, but I didn't need the six of you following me around and spying on me."

"Got it. Won't happen again."

And so the two of them left the library, side-by-side.


End file.
